The Glitch
by Pastrinator64
Summary: When Norman starts seeing strange things in the news about viruses taking over all of his city's technology, he wonders what could be the cause. But when he finds a creepy website on his own computer he is sucked into his favorite game: Minecraft. Norman finds that he must go on a quest to defeat five clans and five mutants in order to end the rule of this evil virus. Can he do it?
1. Chapter 1: Failed Amusement

_**THE GLITCH**_

_**A FANFIC BY Pastrinator64**_

* * *

**Hello, this is Pastrinator64 with a brand new Minecraft fanfic. I'm going to say right now that the first chapter of this story is purely for developing characters and story line, so the adrenaline-rushing adventure WILL come right after this. This is my first fanfic, so don't anyone be laughing at my work (unless you're laughing because of something humorous; that I have nothing against). Anyways, I really hope you like it, and I'll be posting a new chapter every Thursday and Tuesday a week :).**

**Now, let the story commence.**

_Chapter 1: Failed Amusement_

Norman was a normal teenager. He was thirteen years old, average height, somewhat skinny, so he wasn't very different. His hair and eyes were jet black, yet his skin was ghostly white, because sports had never interested him. He preferred reading, playing video games, manufacturing his own computer chips, and just about anything having to do with technology. Norman wasn't popular or well liked, and he only had one friend.

That was Lizzy. Lizzy was just about the opposite of Norman except that she was the same age. Her real name was Elizabeth, but being someone who doesn't like proper names that sound long, she prefers to be referred to as Lizzy. Lizzy was laid back and didn't care what anyone thought of her, and all she wanted to do was have fun and never worry.

Lizzy was a bit shorter than Norman, so it was hard for her to get the upper hand when trying to convince him to have some fun. Many times she had said that he was too uptight and to loosen up a bit, but he refused.

This story begins with the beginning of a regular day for Norman. In bed, Norman yawned and stretched out his arms. When he opened his eyes, he found Lizzy's wild green ones staring him down. He grunted and pulled the covers over his head.

"Lizzy, it's a Saturday. Leave me alone for a little while. Also, how did you get in here?"

Lizzy almost never slept as she was constantly full of energy, so she jumped onto Norman's bedspread, landing on his lap. She pulled the covers away from his face, so Norman used his pillow instead.

"I climbed through the window. Anyways, you should really get up; the weather is great this time in the morning! And besides, you didn't call me "Fizzy Lizzy!"

Lizzy always made up cheesy nicknames for herself like "Silly Lizzy" or "Dizzy Lizzy," because she could never focus on even being one person at a time. She always begged Norman to call her one of these, but he refused to do anything that wasn't practical and realistic.

Lizzy took the pillow away from him and threw it behind her.

"Norman, can you please just get up for one sec?" she pleaded.

"Meh." he replied.

Lizzy waved her arms and screamed,

"Quick! The house is on fire! A flood's coming! Your mother is dying! ...THERE'S AN ARMY OF BLOODTHIRSTY PENGUINS COMING TO KILL YOU! Come on! Pleeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaase get up!"

Norman looked up into her horribly fake puppy eyes and groaned. After a few seconds' silence, he finally said,

"Fine, I'll be up in a minute."

Lizzy grinned a goofy smile and jumped off of Norman's lap, making him gasp in pain.

"Great! I'll meet you outside! Don't wait too long!"

Lizzy was about to rush out the door when she realized that she would attract attention from Norman's family, so she backed up and climbed out the window. Norman sighed when she had left. In his head, he thought,

_"Why can't Lizzy realize that I don't like the outdoors much? It barely has anything to do with technology, if anything at all. Never mind, I promised I would go out with her, so there's no getting out of it now."_

Norman stretched again and pushed down the covers. He got up and made his bed, dressed himself, combed his hair, brushed his teeth, and clipped his fingernails, (he prefers to look his best in public).

Norman made sure to be quiet as he walked down the stairs. Realizing that he could possibly miss breakfast, he grabbed a pickle from the fridge before he went to the door. After getting his shoes on Norman strolled casually out the door of his large home and into the street.

Norman lived in a vast city—named Transville—located on the edge of California. His home was larger among some of the other houses, since his father owned a business deeply involved with Apple and his mother worked as a doctor.

Norman munched on his pickle while he walked down the street. He did have to admit that the weather was warm out, possibly eighty degrees. Norman knew where to find Lizzy, because she always went to the same place. The two friends lived right on the edge of the Pacific Ocean, and where they lived the water was almost always warm on the beach, especially in the summer.

Norman walked down the road of his town until he reached the newly established Cocoa Beach.

Cocoa Beach had recently become a beach only a year ago, and that's when Lizzy had started bringing him there.

Norman found Lizzy standing at the beach's edge where the waves just washed onto the shore. She had taken off her shoes, and was enjoying the water. From a few steps away, Lizzy turned around and noticed Norman approaching.

"Finally! I've been waiting for you FOREVER! You should really take off your shoes, the water feels good on your toes." she said quickly.

Norman rolled his eyes, but agreed to kick off his shoes. The sand also felt nice under his feet.

Lizzy put a hand to her forehead and peered at the rising sun, which was colored a blazing red.

"The weather is so nice out here. Don't you agree, Norman?" she asked, turning her head.

Norman was still standing awkwardly behind her, and snapped back into attention when realizing someone was talking to him.

"What?"

This time Lizzy rolled her eyes.

"Norman, you really need to stop playing Minecraft so much; your brain is gonna start shutting down if you keep going! C'mon, I'll show you how to have some real fun!" she declared, jumping up and splashing Norman with water.

"Lizzy!" said Norman, holding his dampened shirt that was turning darker from the mud in the water. "This is a nice shirt!"

Lizzy snickered and splashed him again.

"Then take it off! Come on, what you need is some loosening up!"

Norman grumbled and pulled off his nice dress shirt so that he was left wearing a plain black T-shirt. Unfortunately, when he had been pulling off his shirt, Lizzy had splashed his dress pants as well. As soon as Norman had thrown his dress shirt next to his black shoes on the shore, he realized that his pants were wet.

He wanted to strangle Lizzy, but she was already running farther into the water.

She looked back as she was waist deep in the water.

"Now you have to come in!" she exclaimed.

Norman pulled off his soggy dress pants and threw them aside, now left in just shorts and a T-shirt. He looked out into the water where Lizzy was standing. Again she was giving him her fake puppy eyes. Norman hated it when she did that, because she wouldn't stop until she got her way.

But he couldn't. It was against his nature to be playful—which he thought was childish—and he still couldn't make himself run into the water. He looked at Lizzy and stepped back.

"Can we just, like, walk instead? I'm not much for swimming." he suggested.

Lizzy was disappointed, but she agreed to just walk.

As Norman and Lizzy began to walk down the beach, the sun began to rise farther until it had cleared the horizon. At that point, Norman heard a deep rumble. He looked around at Lizzy.

"Did you hear that?" he said.

"Yeah, that was my stomach. I'm STARVING! I'm so starving I could eat a whole cow! Oh! Wait a sec, I think I just might have something in my pockets..." mumbled Lizzy.

She felt around in her pockets and pulled out a pink gumball. She looked at it, shrugged, and then popped it in her mouth. After blowing a large bubble, she said,

"Well, it's not exactly filling, but I guess it'll do."

Norman and Lizzy walked down the beach until they began to see more of their city. Lizzy wanted to make sure they got the most out of the morning, so she pulled Norman back onto the beach when they hit pavement.

Norman tried to get back to his city, but Lizzy held him tight.

"Oh no you don't! I'm not letting you leave until you see the thing I REALLY wanted to show you." she stated firmly.

Norman sighed and reluctantly agreed to follow her. Lizzy pulled Norman quickly down the beach, and unfortunately for Norman, she didn't stop. Lizzy finally jerked to a stop right on the edge of where the water washed up on the shore. Norman—not being the most athletic person in the world—gasped for breath as he hunched over, his legs aching.

Lizzy looked over at him and smirked.

"You really need to get in shape, Norman. Some day you won't even be able to walk anywhere if you don't get your muscles moving now."

While Norman continued to take deep breaths, Lizzy dug out the sand beneath her. Hidden underneath the sand was a hollowed out room, just big enough for two people. The sand above was held up by plates of sandstone Lizzy had found, which were attached together roughly.

Norman looked down into the hole when he had finished catching his breath. Lizzy slid down into the small room quickly, and beckoned for Norman to come inside. But instead he crouched over the edge of it, looking at the structure.

"Lizzy, are you sure these sandstone plates are strong enough to hold up the sand?"

Lizzy replied by grabbing Norman by the arm and jerking backwards so that he fell into the room, landing on his back. She leaned over so that her hair dangled in his face.

"It's fine, so just get up and look around!" she said, smirking still.

Norman sat up and looked at the small room. He had to admit that Lizzy had done a nice job of filling the space. There were a few small lanterns around on the ground, some potted plants put around the corners, and there was even a cooler sitting up against the wall.

Lizzy grinned even more as she said,

"This is my secret hideout. My dad actually found the sandstone, and he fashioned them into plates so this room could be made. This is where I spend a lot of my time, because there aren't any buildings or concrete sidewalks in sight... Hey, you want a soda? There's plenty in the cooler."

Norman nodded politely, still wanting to display being a gentleman—even if it was to Lizzy.

As Lizzy handed him a Sprite, Norman asked a question.

"Lizzy? Lizzy, why did... Lizzy, are you even paying attention?"

Lizzy was preoccupied with her root beer, watching the bubbles inside fizz and pop.

"Mmm, fizzy... Oh, what? Sorry, I was just watching the bubbles. What were you saying?"

Norman repeated himself.

"Lizzy, why did you bring me here? Is there a reason?" he asked.

Lizzy frowned a little, hoping he wasn't annoyed.

"I just thought you would like to see my hideout, that's all. What, you don't like it?" she suggested, hoping he would say otherwise.

Lucky for her, Norman shook his head.

"No, of course I like it! I never said I didn't. I was just wondering if you were going to tell me something secret or something." he replied.

Lizzy paused for a moment. Then she opened her mouth and was about to say something when they heard a noise coming from above. It sounded like someone shouting. Norman wanted to stay out of whatever was going on there, but Lizzy couldn't resist her urge, so she moved past Norman and climbed out the hole again. Norman knew he'd have to follow her, so he climbed out the hole as well.

Lizzy was standing still on the sand, looking out at something not far away. Once he was out of the hole, Norman stood up too, looking in the same direction. There was a kid struggling to ride his bike through the sand. He was only about ten years old, and appeared to be holding an armful of newspapers.

The kid halted to a stop when he saw Norman and Lizzy. He quickly set his bike down and stumbled up to them. Holding out a newspaper, he said,

"You two! You need to read this, there's some kind of emergency going on!"

Lizzy unrolled the paper and looked at the front cover. Then she began to read aloud.

"_'6 year old kitten gives birth to twins. Owners are thrilled with the exciting news.'_ Oh, that's not an emergency, that's wonderful!"

The newspaper kid took back the paper.

"Dang it! I keep giving everyone the wrong article! Read here!" he muttered.

He handed Lizzy a different paper. Lizzy began to read that one instead. She surprisingly started to frown and her face took on a worried expression. Norman looked over at her, trying to see the paper at the same time.

"What? What's wrong?"

Lizzy kept reading for a few more intense seconds before finally handing the paper to him. Norman looked at the front cover, and read the news article. The title read Technological Terror: Computers Failing Due to Majorly Dangerous and Mysterious Viruses.

"_'At exactly 8:30 this morning, it was found that the computers all around the area have been failing. The virus has been spreading at a rapid pace, and now nearly all of the computers have stopped performing adequate work. News reporter Rob Bobson reports that phones and other electronics have also begun to shut down. The virus has not yet been discovered, and there is talk that if the source of the bugs cannot be found that the virus might spread even outside of California. To find out more about this crisis, see page A3 for deeper details...'_"

Norman couldn't think. The paper slipped out of his hands and landed at his feet, the front cover's words screaming out at him. All of the technology in the city was failing? How could that happen? Norman started to think he would never be able to use technology again, and the thought almost brought him to tears.

But Norman shook his head. He told himself to man up and do some problem solving. Norman knew he wasn't a professor when it came to technology, but he decided that he would have to use all his knowledge to figure out how to erase the virus causing the technology of his city to glitch out. His head told him that it was hopeless, but his gut told him he should go with it. Normally, he listened to his head, but for this one situation he just might trust his gut.

Lizzy was looking at him the whole time, trying to read his thoughts. Norman turned to look at her. Lizzy didn't show that she was worried, but inside she definitely was. She may not have ever liked anything to do with technology if it wasn't in nature, but she still had a feeling that this was something major.

If Norman had told her he was going to try and find the virus and exterminate it, she would have said he was crazy. But Norman decided to keep his plans to himself when Lizzy said to him,

"What are we gonna do now?"

"I'm going to see if my computer is affected yet. All my life's work is saved on it..." he said.

Norman didn't want to lie about trying to find the source of the bugs—since lying was against his nature too—so the best thing he could do was just stay away from the topic.

After saying goodbye to Lizzy and the newspaper kid, Norman followed his own footprints back to his original spot. Thankfully, his dress clothes were still there and not stolen. Norman gathered up his clothing neatly and headed off for home, waiting to see whether all his work was erased.

**Well, it looks like Norman might be having some foreboding thoughts. Is his life's work erased? Will he be able to find out what's going on? Will he EVER loosen up?! Find out next chapter in THE GLITCH!**

**Now, who wants a pastry?**


	2. Chapter 2: Glitching Out

**Hello, this is Pastrinator64, back again with another chapter from THE GLITCH. Last time on THE GLITCH we found Norman struggling with his thoughts, wondering why all of the technology in his city is failing. Now we find him escaping from Lizzy's attempt at fun to check his computer; his life's work may be completely gone.**

**Now, let the story commence.**

_Chapter 2: Glitching Out_

As soon as Norman caught sight of his beautiful home, he started running. Norman threw open the door with a loud bang and hurtled himself up the stairs and into his room. Norman threw his dried dress clothes in a basket and jumped into a chair. On his desk was a very fine laptop. It was the newest model from Apple, and it was called the Pear. The Pear could process nearly the same amount of data as some supercomputers, so you could see why he treasured it.

Norman turned on his Pear (yes, I know it sounds weird) and put in his username and password. Once on his computer, his muscles relaxed a little when he saw that his desktop looked the same, and all his program shortcuts were still there. He still opened up all his most important computer files, and to his relief they too were still there. He was safe for now.

Norman then began his research. He spent all the rest of the morning looking up data about computer viruses. He kept researching until he heard someone come into his room. It was his mother. She could see that he was doing some intense work, so she said,

"Honey, would you like me to bring you some lunch?"

Without saying a word, Norman nodded twice. He realized that he was hungry again. About ten minutes later, Norman's mother came back into his room with multiple roast beef and Swiss sandwiches, a mountain of crackers and cheese spread, a bowl of blueberries, and a tall glass of milk. When she put the tray of food down on Norman's desk she said,

"Norman, make sure you don't get too stressed out with your work. I don't want it to go like the last time you got too engaged."

Norman didn't answer, so she left the room. Norman worked all throughout the day, and it was just his luck that Lizzy didn't climb through his window and interrupt him. By the time six o'clock had rolled around, Norman felt like his ears were going to start spilling out smoke. He had worked his brain to the hardest degree, and now all he wanted to do was go to bed.

But instead he found himself being dragged down to dinner with his family. Throughout the meal—teriyaki chicken with sauced noodles—his father rambled on about the technology crisis. Norman realized that his family would be affected greatly by this when he heard his dad say that all of the computers in his workplace had stopped turning on.

Norman bolted down his supper as fast as he could and then ran back up the stairs, so busy he skipped dessert. Unfortunately, he turned the corner and smacked his head right into the side of the door, which he had closed, making a loud noise.

"Norman? What's going on up there?" called his mom.

Norman's head pounded and pulsed, but he replied in a hazy voice,

"Nothing, I'm fine."

Norman stood up shakily and held his head, stumbling through the door. But when Norman was back in his room, he noticed that his computer had gone into sleep mode. He slowly jiggled the mouse before he sat down to warm it up again. But for some reason, when the screen turned back on, none of his documents and websites were still there. There was only one website left there, and it wasn't one that he visited.

Norman sat down and looked at the mysterious website. It had no name, and the whole page was colored purple and black, mixing together like a lava lamp on the screen. In the center of the website page was a single red button that read The Truth. With a sense of foreboding, Norman moved his mouse onto the button, hesitated for a moment, and then clicked.

A different page appeared with the same background as the other one. Only this time, there was an uneven paragraph near the edge. This is what it said...

_Death. That is what will come if nothing is done. Death to all. Our world is crumbling, and there is no one who can hear our silent screams. Our children and family will die if the Glitch is not stopped. Soon it will destroy your world once it removes your technology. Help us before the Glitch grows in power. Without technology, your world will begin to rot and decay and you will all wallow in despair. You have relied too much on it, and the Glitch knows it. He will torture your world until you are all dead. Help us if you are willing... YOU HAVE TO... OTHERWISE... YOUR WORLD... AND OURS... WILL DIE..._

As soon as Norman had finished reading the intense paragraph, his computer emitted a horrifying screech and the glass screen shattered, along with all the windows of the house. The computer flipped over onto the ground, and so did Norman. Norman scrambled to his feet and jumped backwards into his bed, breathing fast and staring at his shattered laptop.

He heard his mother's voice coming from downstairs, and he quickly turned his head towards the door. His mom opened the door and peeked around it, looking at him.

"Honey, what is going on in here?!" she asked frantically.

Norman screamed and backed up against the wall on his bed. His mother's face was becoming distorted and ugly, and her skin was beginning to bubble and turn greenish. Norman screamed again and did the only thing he could, jump out the window. He fell down the first two stories of his house and luckily landed in the flower bed. Although the flowers and soil had cushioned his fall, Norman's breath was still knocked right out.

He lay there for a minute, trying to regain power over his lungs again. Then he saw his father coming out the door. He was even worse. The skin on his face was beginning to melt off and both his eyeballs had fallen out of their sockets, leaving a tall skeleton.

Norman screamed for the third time and jumped to his feet. He ran down the street, ignoring the shouts of his mutated father. Norman ran until he reached Cocoa Beach. To his greatest relief, he found Lizzy sitting there, curled up in a ball. Norman bent down and grabbed her shoulder. Lizzy gasped and whirled her head around. A few seconds went by before she sighed with relief.

"Norman! Thank God it's you! I just witnessed the freakiest thing ever! My mom lost both her arms and started hissing, and then I saw my father grow a whole foot taller and become black as night! What the heck is going on?!" she sputtered, tears forming in her eyes.

Norman slowed down his breath.

"Ok, I have to explain." he murmured. "I was researching about viruses to try and find a way to delete the bugs in all of the city's technology, and I came across some creepy website. I clicked on this one button that led to a haunted looking paragraph. The paragraph was talking to me, saying strange things that would happen to our world and its world. I don't know what's going on, but whatever is causing all the computers and other technology related things to glitch out is some kind of monster, and it wants to swallow the universe in a black hole!"

Lizzy didn't say anything for a moment. She stayed silent for only about three seconds, and then she spoke again.

"But why were my parents turning evil?!" she exclaimed.

Norman shook his head.

"I'm not sure. I do believe, though, that this Glitch monster that is entering the technology is putting evil viruses inside people."

Lizzy's mouth dropped open. It opened and closed like a goldfish would do before she finally got her words out.

"What kind of sick person would DO THAT?!" she screamed.

"Well, this isn't a living person we're talking about, is it? Oh! I just thought of something!"

"What?"

Norman quickly jumped to his feet.

"We need to go back and shut down my laptop! Maybe we'll be able to push back the Glitch and restore our parents! Yeah, my mom and dad are mutated now too." he muttered.

With that, Norman and Lizzy began to run back to his house. When they got there, the front door was broken down. Lizzy gulped and looked up at the sky, which was beginning to turn an unnatural shade of blackish red. Norman and Lizzy entered the house, which had turned dark because of the glass bulbs from the lights breaking.

Norman led Lizzy up into his room and looked around the corner to make sure his mom and dad weren't waiting to ambush them. Once they were both in the room, Norman shut the window—which was kind of pointless since it was shattered anyway—and locked his bedroom door. At this time, Lizzy was able to push Norman's bed up against the door. The two worked together to stack Norman's desk and dresser up against the door.

Norman snatched up his computer, and then regretted doing so because in his hurry a large shard of glass had pierced the palm of his hand. Norman winced in pain and pulled the glass out. He hurled it out the window and looked at his hand, which had begun to bleed. Lizzy saw this and said,

"Norman! Are you ok?!"

Norman shook his head and carefully set down his laptop on the floor right-side-up.

"Forget it; we just need to shut off my laptop."

Norman jiggled his mouse, but nothing happened. In his frustration, Norman ripped out his mouse and smashed it with his foot. He then kicked it away at the wall. Lizzy began to whimper.

"Norman, please just shut down your computer." she whined.

Norman pressed the Esc key, but nothing happened still. He held it down for a long time, and yet the screen didn't do anything. Norman growled and stood up. He then quickly checked out the window. Outside it was now completely dark, and only his porch light shone in the darkness. He looked down at the flower bed, and to his horror he saw his skeleton dad, staring up at him. Norman quickly pulled back as a sudden jolt of adrenaline ran down his spine. He moved back to his computer, but then heard a thumping noise on his bedroom door.

His zombified mother was on the other side, trying to break the door down. Norman looked over at Lizzy, who had begun to cry silently.

"I don't want to die... I don't want to die... I don't want to die..." she murmured in a panicked voice.

Norman pulled her closer to his possessed computer. Suddenly, having an idea, Norman pressed hard on the Delete key, hoping something would happen. And something DID happen. At first, the broken screen was blank. But then, the background of the black and purple lava lamp appeared looking choppy and scattered. Norman could just make out the new words on the screen.

_Always extend a hand to those in need. It might just help you..._

Suddenly, Norman realized what he had to do. But before he could reach a hand towards his computer, he heard a noise from behind him. His skeleton father had climbed into his room, and was grinning at him with a great big creepy smile. Lizzy screamed at the top of her lungs and grabbed Norman for dear life. Norman wasted no time and flung his arm at the screen. Surprisingly, his hand went right into the background of the creepy website. He felt himself being sucked inside the computer, and as he looked back, his skeletal father began to fade away. The next thing Norman knew, he was in complete darkness with Lizzy.

**Creepy, huh? Now something really IS going on! What is this about a dangerous virus? How did that website appear on Norman's computer and why? How is Norman going to deal with his world while its COMPLETELY falling apart?! Find out next chapter on THE GLITCH!**

**Now, who wants a pastry?**


	3. Chapter 3: Even More Glitching

**Hello, Pastrinator64 here with another chapter from THE GLITCH. Last time on THE GLITCH Norman was relieved to see his work was not gone, but his hopes only were to be extinguished once traumatized by seeing his parents mutate.**

**Now, let the story commence.**

_Chapter 3: Even More Glitching_

Norman looked around and found that he was definitely in complete darkness. Lizzy was still clinging to his arm, and he nudged her lightly. Lizzy looked up and all around frantically, tears tracks marking both cheeks. Norman had never seen her as scared as she was then, because normally she was fearless and enjoyed adventure. Unfortunately, that was not the case.

Norman and Lizzy sat there in complete darkness for a long time, not sure what to do anymore. In fact, Norman was about to stand up and just start walking forward to nowhere when he felt a powerful force sucking him through an invisible hole again. Norman's breath was squeezed out of his lungs as he was spaghettified in a most painful process. Norman had only been experiencing this process for a few seconds when he felt a different force slam him hard in the chest. He fell backwards onto solid ground, and his eyes shut tight—he wasn't able to force himself to open them again.

With his eyes still closed, he felt beside him for Lizzy. Only thing was she wasn't there. This made Norman's eyes snap open, and he immediately regretted it because he was blinded by a sudden bright light. Norman grunted in annoyance and rolled onto his side to avoid the new light. Norman suddenly noticed that the ground he was lying on was very flat, and felt rough. It also smelled like mushroom stew for some strange reason.

Norman's eyes opened carefully this time, and he was still surprised by the light that filled his new surroundings. Norman sat up and looked around. He was sitting on some dully colored grayish grass with specks of brown, which was also letting out fumes in the same way as bedrock. The whole area was covered with it. He looked behind him and caught by surprise. Not even twenty feet from his position was a giant red mushroom with white spots. The only thing was, it looked like it was made of neatly arranged blocks.

Norman quickly stood up and looked behind him again. Behind the one giant mushroom was another, only it was colored tan and brownish. He realized that he was on an island of giant mushroom thingies, and that he was probably losing his mind. Norman looked farther on and saw that the island ascended slightly near the back until it formed a small mountain. And to his relief, there was a giant town built at the top.

Norman had a sudden thought in his head. Where did Lizzy go? Norman scanned the area again, but she was nowhere to be seen. Norman panicked for a second and was about to shout out her name when she felt someone grab him from behind. He jumped and whirled around. It was Lizzy, of course. She started laughing her head off, pointing at Norman wildly.

"You should have seen your face! Ahaha! You looked like you might've fainted when you saw me! Hahahahaha!"

Norman grumbled and started walking away towards the village. Lizzy ran after him and tried to apologize.

"Eh, sorry about that. I was just making a joke, you know." she explained.

Norman nodded but didn't turn his head.

"I know, just don't ever do that again. I felt like I was going to have a heart attack!" he snapped.

Lizzy smiled and whispered,

"Yeah, you sure looked like it too..."

That sent Lizzy into another fit of giggles, so Norman sped up his walking pace. Norman noticed that as he continued towards the mountain, he began to climb a slope. But, for some reason instead of a clean slope, he would come across another flat area of completely neat blocks rising up out of the ground, which made for uneven slopes. Every block was the exact same size, and at that point Norman realized what was going on. He and Lizzy were in the world of Minecraft. And for some strange reason, they just happened to spawn on a Mushroom Island, the rarest biome of all.

As Norman was taking in what had just happened, Lizzy had run up to him, poised to ask a question.

"Norman, what's going on? Everything is made of... Blocks!"

"Lizzy, I know that it may seem weird, but we're in the world of Minecraft."

Lizzy looked at him skeptically for a few seconds. Finally, she took a deep breath and said,

"You're talking about that computer game you're always playing?" Norman nodded. "And we're inside your computer and inside the game. Ok... ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?!"

This caught Norman by surprise, and he stumbled backwards into a giant mushroom.

"No, I'm not joking. My computer somehow transported us into Minecraft." muttered Norman.

Lizzy nodded slowly but she still looked like she was unsure. Norman decided to keep walking, so Lizzy tried to keep up. Soon the slopes began to become steeper, and since each block was about three feet tall, Norman had to jump up every time he reached an ascending block—just like in the real game. As the two traveled up the small mountain to reach the town on top, Lizzy decided that she would need to know what Minecraft was about.

"Alright, I've never played Minecraft before, so I need you to fill me in on what's going on." said Lizzy as they both jumped up onto the next block height.

Norman knew that they'd have to survive properly until they figured out how to get back home, so he sighed and explained everything he could in one basic summary.

"Ok, I'll just give you a fundamental summary of the game. Basically, your main goal is to gather resources to build shelter, go mining to build tools to help you manage your resources, and make armor and weapons to protect against hostile mobs. Mobs are animals such as pigs, sheep, and cows, which won't attack you. But, there are also a lot of hostile mobs which are monsters like skeletons, zombies, spiders, and Creepers. They will all attack you if you get too close, so you have to be careful.

"In the game, there are two things you must keep restored: your health bars and your hunger bars. Taking damage from falling, being attacked, poisoning, drowning, starving, or suffocating—and if you're in the rare incident the /kill command will reduce all of your hearts at once—will reduce your number of hearts, and if you lose them all, you die. In the game you will spawn—or come back alive—with full health and hunger where you originally first spawned in the beginning, but you'll lose everything you're carrying. (Although, I'm not sure if that rule applies to us or not, and we might not get another chance to live.)

"Hunger is a lot simpler; you also have ten bars of hunger that you need to keep full. After a while, your hunger bars will deplete, and if all of them are gone you'll begin to take damage. Chomping down on foodstuffs restores hunger, so you must keep the bars at a reasonable level. After gaining enough resources and tools and weapons, you have to travel to the End—which is another dimension—and fight the Enderdragon, which is the main boss of the game. Once you do that, the game is beaten, but you can still continue if you want."

Lizzy had managed to keep listening the whole time, and a few seconds after processing everything in her head, she was a little less confused. (She never played very many video games, so she was very unfamiliar with the concept.)

Norman turned his head back in the direction he was facing and realized that he was only about 50 blocks away from the town already. After jumping up the rest of the mountain, Norman and Lizzy finally reached the top. Thankfully, the settlers of the mountain had flattened out the top where the town was built, so there were no slopes whatsoever.

As soon as Norman got a glimpse of the town, he noticed that it was relatively modern. The houses and small buildings were made of brick and smooth stone. Norman saw women talking together in groups, men laughing and bellowing inside a nearby pub, and small children running around playing tag. They were all avatars (not like those blue humanoid things, I mean like Minecraft player avatars). He passed the butcher's shop crowded with people, which had pig and cow meat displayed in the window. He passed the smoky blacksmith shop, a produce store, a bakery, and many watchtowers.

He even saw a school and a mob killing arena and training room once he reached the far side of the village. That was strange, because no other mobs besides Mooshrooms even spawned on Mushroom Islands.

As they walked through the town, many people began to stare, and Norman began to feel uncomfortable. Lizzy must have been feeling the same way, because she started to speed up. Norman did so as well, not wanting to fall behind.

Norman and Lizzy decided to enter the monster battling arena. Norman immediately covered his ears, because he heard a deafening roar blast from all directions. Apparently, a battle was just about to begin, and many people had filled in the stands of the coliseum.

Since Norman had a feeling that they were about to start he grabbed Lizzy by the arm and pulled her up the staircases on the side and into the stands. They squeezed into some seats near the stage.

Lizzy looked over at Norman and screwed up her eyebrows.

"Norman, what are we doing here?" she whispered.

Norman shrugged, having nothing else to do to express his ideas.

"Well, I just thought that maybe we could see how badly this Glitch monster is affecting hostile mobs. We just might see how if we watch. Oh, here comes the fighter now..." he muttered.

Someone wearing gleaming iron armor stepped out into the middle of the coliseum. Suddenly, he thrust his iron sword high into the sky, and the crowd cheered louder.

Over the blaring sound of the cheering, Norman could still hear the loud clanking of the gates to a monster cage opening. The crowd shushed for a moment when a Creeper came onto the grounds. The green snakelike creature also paused for a moment, and then focused on the fighter, letting out a loud hissing noise. The crowd then started booing the Creeper, yet the mob still didn't turn its head.

The fighter gripped his iron sword harder as the Creeper began to shuffle towards him. The fighter rolled to the side and tried to slice the head of the Creeper, but the Creeper jumped to the side and literally did a summersault. Norman looked closer and rubbed his eyes, but he wasn't seeing things.

The Glitch was making hostile mobs glitch out and begin using some kind of strategy. That wasn't right, because hostile mobs pretty much all just charge at you without thinking, but now that wasn't the case.

The fighter cracked his neck with one jerk, ready to fight. The Creeper charged again, but when it got close, it was able to duck underneath the stab of the sword and head-butted the gladiator, who stumbled backwards. Then the fighter gained the upper hand, because the next time the Creeper came charging, the fighter jumped up and placed a block of iron underneath himself twice, putting him out of the range of the Creeper.

As a result, the Creeper head-butted the blocks of iron instead, and it fell to the ground on its back. Unfortunately for the Creeper, it had no arms so it couldn't get itself back up again. The fighter knew he had the Creeper trapped, so he jumped and brought his sword down to stab the Creeper in the heart.

But the Creeper still had the glitches on its side, and it rolled over just as the sword came down. So instead of killing the Creeper, the warrior's sword was stuck in the sandstone ground. Since the Creeper knew it couldn't ever get up again, it did the one thing that came naturally; explode.

This sent the warrior flying back five or six blocks onto the ground, eagle spread. The crowd gasped in horror, but then started booing again. Only this time they were booing the fighter instead. Norman had a sudden idea, and he ran down the steps and out of the stands.

"Norman, wait!" cried Lizzy as she hurried after him.

Norman ran down across the battlegrounds to the fighter. He was beginning to get back up, but he looked winded and his armor seemed to be slightly damaged. Finally, he stood up and took off his iron helmet, which had a scorch mark on it. The man looked like he was in his twenties or so, and his hair was blond and smooth.

He looked down at Norman and Lizzy and suddenly got an impatient look on his face.

"Shoo! I'm embarrassed enough as it is, and the last thing I need is children to be swarming me! Go get back in school! Oh boy..."

Norman looked around the man to see a plump woman walking towards them. She had short legs and arms, and appeared to be carrying a gold ingot. She had a very thick neck, and her head looked too small for her body, as though someone had attached a pump to her stomach and inflated her main body.

When she reached them, she held out the gold bar to the fighter.

"Alright, this is what you've earned off of that battle, young man." she said in a deep voice that suited a man better than a woman.

She handed the man the gold bar (which was actually a gold ingot) and he snatched it away. Looking at the gold, Norman noticed that there was a tiny white number three hovering above the gold ingot. That must have meant there were three gold ingots in the one stack. The man looked incredulously at the plump woman and said,

"Three gold ingots?! Is that all I get?! I can't support my family with enough food for the week if I only have three gold ingots!"

The woman frowned and said in her abnormally manly voice,

"I'm afraid that when you can't manage to do considerable damage to even a Creeper, your pay will be considerably smaller. Good day to you, Mr. Ironblock."

The woman left without another word, leaving the fighter with a baffled look on his face. The man decided to take out his anger on his iron chestplate, which he ripped off his body and threw to the ground.

"What the hell is wrong with that woman?! She knows I can't get by on three stupid gold ingots, and yet that's what she gives me anyways!" he shouts.

Then the man was finished yelling his lungs out, he realized that Norman and Lizzy were still standing there. He cast a dirty look at them both and muttered,

"What do you want?!"

Norman cleared his throat nervously, not wanting to end up with a sword in the gut.

"Well, we just wanted to ask if you knew anything about the Glitch."

The man raised one eyebrow.

"Why do you want to know about the Glitch?" he asked suspiciously.

Norman felt a little more confident now that he wasn't giving them a death stare, so he continued as smoothly as he could.

"Well, the place we come from is starting to become infested with glitches, and everyone around us is turning into mobs like zombies, skeletons, and Creepers. We saw that the Creeper you were fighting was using some kind of glitch to avoid dying instantly, and we're wondering if you can explain anything about that."

The man looked at them skeptically for a second, but finally he just sighed angrily and started walking out of the arena.

"Meet me at my house on the starting corner of Wheatfield Street for dinner and I'll tell you everything I know." he muttered as he walked away, dragging his sword behind him.

Before the man had gone through the giant arching doorway, Norman shouted out to him.

"Hey! What's your name again?" he asked.

The man looked over his shoulder and replied.

"My name is Jeff Ironblock. Don't be late for dinner..."

With that, Jeff left the arena, leaving Norman and Lizzy standing alone with many questions unanswered. They might just understand what's going on at dinner. Because of this, Norman suddenly found himself in the mood for some steak.

**Do I see another important character coming into play here? What does Jeff know about the Glitch and why would he be willing to tell them? Will Norman and Lizzy find out the answer to where this mysterious virus came to be? Find out next chapter in THE GLITCH!**

**Now, who wants a pastry?**


	4. Chapter 4: The Three Rulers

**Hello, this is Pastrinator64 with a new chapter from THE GLITCH. Last time on THE GLITCH Norman found himself sucked into the world of Minecraft. Soon after spawning on a mushroom island-which just happened to be the biome chosen-he found a very large village. There he met a man named Jeff, who supposedly might know something about the Glitch. Now we find Notch and his fellow rulers coming together in a very secret meeting to discuss about the Glitch itself.**

**Now, let the story commence!**

_Chapter 4: The Three Rulers_

Up in the great clouds of the Aether, Notch was thinking. The next upcoming year would be the update of beta 91.4 for the Minecraft Dimension, so he thought about what new mobs, blocks, and items he could include in the world of Minecraft, he thought about possibly even creating a new biome: frozen wasteland, but most of all, he thought about the strange events going on because of the Glitch.

Notch was sitting in his throne, which was made of pure white wool. In fact, his whole castle was made of white wool, which gave the place a positive appearance. He never had appreciated the types of structures his friend Herobrine created in the Nether. But, he ruled the Nether, so technically he could do whatever he wanted with it. His friend Herobrine was the ruler of the Nether and all hostile mobs including the zombie Pigman.

While thinking about Herobrine, he thought about the ruler of the End Dimension; Queen Enderdragon. She was quite peaceful as long as humans did not wander into her dimension, because she absolutely hated it whenever they would attack her children; the Endermen. She also didn't like it when they would try to destroy her Ender Crystals, which were her most expensive forms of health insurance.

The three rulers got along together surprisingly well, and always worked out problems fairly. Notch had decided to host a meeting so that he and his fellow rulers could discuss what to do about the horrible Glitch. Herobrine was finally satisfied because they had decided to host it in his dimension for once—they never hosted meetings there because of the sweltering heat, but they finally gave in.

Notch stood up from his throne and spoke to his pig servant. (Notch was the ruler of the Aether and the Overworld including all the passive mobs plus the wolf.)

"Mel, I want you to tell the guards to keep watch all around the castle while I'm gone for the meeting. You never know when the Glitch might strike..."

Mel the pig nodded and scuttled off to carry out the orders. Notch walked behind his throne and into a small room in the back. Inside it was brightly lit, and it owned three portals put against the back of the wall. One was a portal to the Nether, one was an End portal, and the final one was a portal to the Overworld.

Notch walked straight towards the Nether portal, and when he entered, he stepped immediately back out the other end into the Nether. In that one small moment the temperature increased greatly, but Notch had gone into the Nether to visit Herobrine so many times that the heat did not bother him.

Notch was already inside Herobrine's biggest Nether Fortress, and he walked down a long hallway to reach the meeting room. Zombie Pigman were constantly walking up and down the hallway, and they still knew to respect Notch, so they would part to the side whenever he walked through.

Notch walked for an entire five minutes before finally reaching the throne room of Herobrine. Herobrine was sitting in his throne made of soulsand, waiting for Notch and Queen Enderdragon to arrive. When he saw Notch enter the room, he stepped down from his throne and extended his arms.

"Ah, Notch! It's good to see you again. I hope the Queen isn't late, I'd really like to get started on this meeting."

After embracing Herobrine for a moment, Notch sat down in a comfy armchair near the fireplace. (Notch wondered why Herobrine had put a fireplace in the Nether when it was already over 250 degrees all the time.)

Herobrine sat down in his throne fashioned from soul sand. He then snapped his fingers, and a medium sized magma cube hopped up under his feet, which he used as a footrest. Herobrine pulled out a ball of magma cream and slicked back his hair with it, which made his head smoke.

"Ahh... That's better." sighed Herobrine as he smoothed the magma cream on his scalp. He looked down at Notch, who was sitting patiently. "Notch, would you like a drink? Lava smoothie? Wither juice?"

Notch smiled and held up a hand.

"That's fine, I'm not really thirsty right now." he said politely.

Herobrine shrugged and snapped his fingers. A zombie Pigman came into the room and held out a tall glass of black and murky Wither juice with a little pink umbrella and a bendy straw. Herobrine sucked some of the poisonous gunk and smacked his lips, apparently liking the taste of the toxic liquid.

The two rulers began conversation for about five minutes, but then Queen Enderdragon arrived. Herobrine pressed a stone button on his throne, which opened up the ceiling. Queen Enderdragon flew down carefully into the large room, cautious not to crush anyone.

Six full sized magma cubes arranged themselves into a soft platform, which the Queen landed on. She looked at Herobrine with her deep violet eyes and said,

"Thank you, Herobrine. I've been having so many Enderman children lately that my muscles are beginning to strain, and these magma cubes are a lot more comfortable than the floor."

Herobrine walked up to her and clasped both hands on Queen Enderdragon's claw and shook it.

"Is there something my Ghast masseurs can do to relieve your muscles? A manicure? Pedicure?" he asked.

"No, that won't really help me much. Especially the pedicure; I can't stop moving when I'm getting a treatment—these claws of mine are actually quite ticklish, believe it or not." she replied.

Herobrine nodded politely and went back to sitting in his throne. Notch cleared his throat officially and said,

"Alright then, now that everyone is here, I believe the meeting can begin."

Notch stood up and began his speech.

"Alright, the main reason I decided to host this meeting today was to discuss the matter of that horrid Glitch that is putting bugs in all the hostile mobs. I've found that even the wolves of mine are being affected; once they get angry at you, they'll never stop. Herobrine, is there anything you can do to control your monsters?"

Herobrine shook his head angrily as the thought came into his mind.

"No, I've tried to get all the glitched mobs to behave, but once they've been taken over by the Glitch, they won't come back into my command! One of my zombie Pigmen nearly put a sword through my head, and a Ghast blew up an opening in the grand dining room and ate all of the cakes in the kitchen! It's been a disaster, and no matter what I've tried I can't control them." said Herobrine.

Notch calmly turned to Queen Enderdragon.

"Queen, have you been noticing any problems with your Endermen lately?"

The Queen nodded slowly, saying,

"Well, recently I've been seeing some groups of Endermen fighting each other. They try to crumple each other into blocks and pick the victims up then place them in The Void so that they die. And sometimes, when I call back my Endermen for dinner, some of them are picking up the cakes and dropping them down into The Void as well. I'm sure it's the same glitches that are going on with the other monsters."

Notch furrowed his eyebrows together as he thought. After a few seconds, he spoke again.

"Well, now we know that the Glitch has something against cakes, but that might be just about it. What I wanted to share was the fact that these glitched mobs are spawning at an unusually quick rate. It's almost as if they're coming from somewhere or someone else. Any ideas?" asked Notch.

Herobrine and the Queen looked at each other.

"It doesn't make sense, though." said Queen Enderdragon. "They can't be coming from anyone besides us; we're the only ones who can spawn them."

Notch shrugged his shoulders and said,

"The Glitch must have found a way to spawn new mutated mobs by itself and put them in with the normal ones. Or at least that's my theory..."

Notch continued on with another question.

"Does anyone have any ideas on how to get rid of the Glitch?" he asked.

Herobrine raised his hand quickly.

"Well, I've seen the mortals on planet Earth do it before. The easiest way they once tried was to put a strong electromagnetic device that would suck the virus out through magnetism, but in the process it also got rid of all the precious data around it. But since the mobs the creature is creating are all mutated with no hopes of being restored, I think it's safe to say we can trap the Glitch without destroying anything valuable." he suggested.

Queen Enderdragon raised her head to the idea.

"Ah yes! Brilliant idea, Herobrine. Notch, have you added any blocks with magnetism properties yet?" she said as she turned her head to Notch.

"You know, I haven't really thought about that before. I suppose I could add magnetic blocks and items besides compasses to the world. I think that the next time I'm implementing new updates on the world I will make a magnet and a magnet block. That is a good idea, Queen." added Notch.

Queen Enderdragon asked a second question that had a deeper meaning than the previous one.

"If you are going to add magnetism, which resident of the Minecraft world is going to use this new property? Do you have a specific person in mind?" she asked.

Notch thought about that for a moment, but then nodded as a reply.

"Well, barely over a half hour ago, two actual humans from the planet Earth—named Norman and Lizzy— in the 3rd Dimension traveled through other dimensions and into ours, and this was caused by the Glitch's work as well. The two are going to find out from Jeff Ironblock of Smelttown about what the Glitch really is doing, but I know that Jeff barely knows much about it, so I am going to visit him secretly an hour before Norman and Lizzy arrive to tell him everything they need to know. Both Norman and Lizzy have been experiencing the horrible things the Glitch is doing to their own world, and I have a feeling they are the ones who should know the most about the Glitch. I'm sorry if I rambled on a bit, sometimes I get a little carried away with my speeches." apologized Notch.

Suddenly, Herobrine jumped in again.

"Do we know just exactly where the Glitch even came from? I know that it APPEARED in The Void, but perhaps it came from elsewhere. Another dimension, perhaps?" he suggested.

"You are right, Herobrine, I will look into that right away. We might as well make an educated guess for now. Let's see, the Glitch is really a mass of mutated viruses and bugs, but where in the Overworld could that many come to meet? It can't be here, I have done my very best in trying to minimize the amount of bugs in this dimension. Although, with other people from the planet Earth—3rd Dimension—creating so many mods, it may be possible that those bugs are contributing to the Glitch's being." murmured Notch.

The Queen added her own inquiry.

"Well, what will we do if the Glitch escapes from its prison? We haven't regained the strength we had 400 years ago in that year 2014, and that means we can't seal him away again." she supposed.

Notch sighed and lowered his head in with a dreadful feeling in his mind.

"Well, I will be honest, I am not sure what we will do. When the time comes, we might have to resort to once again visiting the spaces in between dimensions to bring the capsules back up into the dimension."

The three rulers sat silently for about ten seconds, not sure what else to discuss. They had pretty much covered everything. Notch knew this, so he sighed, stood up and said goodbye to his friends.

"Alright, if there are no more items on the agenda, then I believe this meeting is over. I will schedule a time for us to visit the spaces in between dimensions." he nodded at Queen Enderdragon. "The Void in the End will be the best area to go to, as it is the easiest to access. Good day, Herobrine and Queen Enderdragon."

After saying his goodbyes, Notch walked back down the long hallway he had entered through, and for some reason there seemed to be no crowds of zombie Pigmen anymore. When reaching the portal back to his castle in the Aether, Notch stepped through the portal and into the small back room behind his throne.

Notch went back out of the room in a hurry, but did not sit back in his throne. Instead, Notch walked up the spiraling staircases in the corner of the throne room, which led high up into space. There was a small room at the top, where Notch spent his time creating new things for the world of Minecraft. Notch put on his work glasses, sat down in a chair near his desk, and began to craft.

**Ah, what do we have here? What were Notch, Herobrine and Queen Enderdragon's old powers? Why 400 years later can they not use them again? And WHAT secret is hidden in the spaces between dimensions in The Void? Find out next chapter in THE GLITCH!**

**Now then, WHO wants a pastry?**


	5. Chapter 5: Finding Food

**Hello, this is Pastrinator64 with another chapter from THE GLITCH. Last time on THE GLITCH we were able to zoom in on a secret meeting between Notch, Herobrine, and Queen Enderdragon. They were all debating about what to do to "delete" the Glitch safely, and many suggestions came up at the time, although there were many problems they were to deal with. Now we find ourselves looking from Jeff's point of view as he tries to find food for his family on just three gold ingots.**

**Now, let the story commence!**

_Chapter 5: Finding Food_

The hammer came down with bang. Jeff was working in his blacksmith shop, fixing his recently damaged iron sword. He hadn't even noticed his wife come down into the workshop. Jeff looked up at his wife. He acknowledged the fact that she was pretty for the millionth time in his life, because he loved it when she smiled. Her name was Esmeralda.

"Yes, honey?" he asked as Esmeralda entered the room.

He stopped banging down on the anvil when he realized that she was carrying their newborn baby; Jonah. He must have been too loud, and immediately felt ashamed. Esmeralda held up a finger to her mouth and said,

"Jeff, can you please be a little quieter? Jonah is trying to sleep."

Jeff set down his hammer.

"Sorry, dear. I'll wait until Jonah is up to do my work." he replied.

His wife moved closer and asked,

"So how was your battle today? Did you have another successful kill?"

Jeff bit his lip and walked up to his wife. He kissed her on the cheek and held her hands, cupping his over hers.

"Well, I need to talk to you about that. Remember how I was talking about what the Glitch monster was doing to the hostile mobs?" his wife nodded. "It's been getting worse, and so the battle didn't go so well."

He let go of her hand and turned around, putting on a nasty scowl.

"That horrible boss of mine Gina Deadbush thinks that we can last the week off of three golden ingots, and that's all she gave me! What does she know? She was given the power to summon dead bushes, so I don't understand how she got to be such a business woman. Still, I'm sick and tired of her paying me poorly. Being a blacksmith is hard work, and most of the time we don't get many customers because I don't have the money for good enough equipment. Plus, no one wants to buy plain blocks of iron anyway. If I had only gotten a better boss then maybe my life wouldn't be a living hell! Oh, I just don't know what I'm supposed to do, Esmeralda..." he muttered.

His wife walked up to him and patted him on the shoulder.

"Honey, you're doing just fine. Sure, we might have a difficult week, but you have to look at the positive side of this. You have a wife and a beautiful son, and really in the end gold and diamonds are just materials. Even if we were to die, all of us would have a wonderful life up in the Aether with Notch. Jeff, I was named as Esmeralda Wheat, and I could have kept the name,—which has turned out to be a quite useful power—but I chose to take on your name. This family is an Ironblock family, so we can toughen out the worst hardships."

Jeff looked away from his wife, but knew he couldn't ignore her gaze.

"What about our son? Jonah can't go another week with so little food! He's might never be an Ironblock!" exclaimed Jeff.

When children were born from parents of a certain block power, the child would not have that name or that power when born. At the age of 10 they would begin training to become either Veyacrafts or Dungeoneers.

If you were given the power of blocks like Dirt, Wood, Brewing Stand, or even Pumpkin Stem, you were chosen to be a Veyacraft. Veyacrafts were the people who would gather resources, build homes, and work in breweries and infirmaries and shops.

If you were given the power of blocks like Lava, Bedrock, Diamond, or even Air, you were chosen to be a Dungeoneer. Dungeoneers were fighters and warriors who worked to protect the city, the people, and slay any monsters that come near. They also traveled to distant lands to be in wars and battles.

Now recently, there had been a third section invented. It was specialized for all the unlucky people who received any of the following blocks: Sponge, Dragon Egg, End Portal Frame, End Portal, Nether Portal, Fern, Dead Bush, Lily Pad, Cobweb, Vines, Flower Pot, and Heads. These people were separated into a group called Oddblocks. Oddblocks were the people who were left to do the jobs no one else wanted. This included Street Cleaner, Cobweb Exterminator, Weapon Test Subject, Mineshaft Clearer, etc. As you could imagine, no one ever aimed to become an Oddblock.

Some unlucky fellows didn't even get to be in a category, and for the rest of their lives they mostly struggle to find paying jobs. The people who happen to obtain unimplemented or unused blocks that never made the cut like Dirt Slab, Gear, Locked Chest, Spike Block, Crying Obsidian, Chair, Lectern, Block 36, and even Camera don't have the best of lives afterwards, so that's just about as bad as you can get.

The luckiest—and rarest—category you could get put in was the Mobwhisperers. A Mobwhisperer would be born with unexpected powers to tame and speak with any mob, including hostile ones. People who were born as Mobwhisperers went to special schools for their specific mobs to learn how to control their powers even better.

So of course Jeff was worried that his son might end up becoming an Oddblock or nothing at all when he gained his powers. That last thing he wanted was a son named Jonah Dirtslab or Jonah Deadbush.

But Esmeralda wasn't worried about this. She preferred to stay optimistic, and so tried spreading it to her husband.

"Jeff, you know that our son is strong. He will make it through the tough times, and he will receive a better power than you think. I promise you he will become a Dungeoneer just like you. He will be Jonah Ironblock. Now then, keep down the noise in here, Jonah still needs to sleep. I'll go and see what we have left for food." said Esmeralda.

She left the room with Jonah still in her arms. Jeff stood there, not saying anything. He knew that he was stupid to give up easily, but things seemed hopeless at the moment, and he couldn't get himself to keep hope. So instead, he just stopped thinking about it. He couldn't repair his armor or sword anymore, so instead he just decided to go to bed. He didn't really care what time it was, all he wanted was to forget about everything for a moment.

But when he went upstairs to his bed and tried to sleep in it, a message written in white lettering appeared above the bed that read: "YOU CAN ONLY SLEEP AT NIGHT..."

So again, he began thinking about the horrible things going on in his life. He'd never stop thinking about it until his life became easier. Jeff then realized that it would be a LONG rest of the day.

So he decided to go into town to see if anyone would be willing to trade for food. He sighed as he walked out the door, because immediately he saw someone walk buy chomping down on a juicy steak. Jeff felt his stomach groan at the sight, so he turned in the opposite direction. He thought about who would be willing to trade with him. He only had three gold ingots, and there was only one person he knew who would trade with him. That person was Benny Carrot.

Benny was an old friend of Jeff's, and gave him fair prices all the time. He was a very elderly farmer who lived around the edge of the town. He owned a small farm where he bred pigs, cows, and chickens. He only had a few animals here and there, but he mainly made his money off of his fabulous carrots. He had been given the block power of Carrot, so he made a decent amount of money.

Jeff found Benny converting a line of dirt into farmland. Just as he was planting some new carrots, Jeff called out his name to get his attention.

"Hey! Benny! How's the farm coming?"

Benny looked up and tried to find where the voice had come from. Being 83 years old, Benny had grown blind, so he relied on touch and sound to find his way. Jeff ran up to Benny and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Benny, it's me. It's Jeff." said Jeff.

A few seconds went by before Benny realized who was talking to him. He smiled and reached out awkwardly in from of him.

"Oh. Well, hello Jeffrey! How's the family, eh?" he murmured, his voice weakened with age.

Jeff sighed and said honestly,

"Not very good at the moment..."

Benny frowned and began to slowly feel his way back to his small shack next to the farm.

"Ah, that's a darn shame..." he muttered.

Jeff helped Benny into his shack, where Benny walked behind the counter.

"Alright, what would you like to trade for?" asked Benny.

"I'm wondering what I could get for these three gold ingots." replied Jeff.

Jeff handed Benny the three gold ingots, and Benny put them in his inventory. He then hobbled slowly into his back room where all of his chests of products. After a minute or two, Benny came back holding a stack of twenty carrots, a second stack of ten potatoes, and one cooked chicken. Benny handed the items to Jeff, who stared at them in disbelief.

"Benny, are you sure you took the right amount? I'm thinking that you may have given me too much." said Jeff, who tried to give back the items.

But Benny did not take them back. Instead he smiled and said,

"Oh, I've forgotten to tell you something. Lately my brother Gerald Grass—who you know is my main supplier of seeds for growing wheat—has been planning to host a dinner party for his friends and family, and he needs the fattest, juiciest, meatiest pig he can find for the main course. He's planning on making jumbo porkchops with carrot sauce and seeds sprinkled on top, and I'm his only hope. He said that if I can raise a pig big enough for him, he'll pay me a lot of money. So in other words, I need as much gold as possible so that I can make some golden carrots. I've found that my golden carrots fatten up the animals very well."

Jeff stood there for a moment. Apparently, his three measly gold ingots were useful to the old man. He was very thankful, so as Jeff put the food in his inventory he shook Benny's hand vigorously.

"Oh, thank you Benny! My family is beginning to starve, so this really helps a lot!" he declared.

Benny suddenly gasped and then put on a frown.

"What did you say? Your family is beginning to starve? Oh, not poor Esmeralda and little Jonah. Tell you what, how about you take something extra for your family. Once in a while they deserve a treat." he said.

Benny opened a chest behind the desk in his little shack and took out something Jeff couldn't see. The old man closed the chest and handed a new item to Jeff. It was a cake! Jeff's mouth dropped open.

"But Benny! I... I don't know... Why?" he finally exclaimed.

Benny smiled and felt around for Jeff's hand, and when he found it he shook it.

"I've known you since you were in school, and now you have a family of your own. When I was father of two boys, we almost never had enough food, and the boys got sick of eating just carrots, and everything having to do with carrots. They both eventually grew up to be strong boys, and now they are Dungeoneers; Lewis Fire and Aaron Lava. I don't want your family to go through the same hardships, so you people should be allowed to treat yourself every once in a while. Now go on back to your family and feed them!" declared Benny, his hands waving at Jeff.

Jeff looked down at the cake in his hands. He knew his wife would be overjoyed, and his son wouldn't be hungry for the whole week. With these positive thoughts in his head, Jeff grinned and rushed out the door, saying a quick goodbye to Benny.

Jeff ran right down the streets of town right to the traffic cop. (Just kidding.) Instead he zoomed through the busy streets, down sidewalks, and even over a couple fences. Once reaching his home, he remembered that Jonah might still be sleeping, so he opened the door silently.

Esmeralda was in the kitchen, letting Jonah sip from a bucket of fresh milk. She looked up at Jeff and put on a discouraging look.

"Jeff, where have you been for the past hour? We've been waiting for you to come back and have lunch with us. Oh..." she suddenly put on a sad expression. "I've taken inventory, and all that's left in our chests are three bowls of mushroom stew and two steaks. I'm afraid we're going to have to go to the shops and see if anyone will trade with the three gold ingots you got."

Jeff smiled and said,

"Don't worry, I already went out to trade, and I've got us some food! Just look!"

He gave the twenty carrots, ten potatoes, one cooked chicken, and the cake to Esmeralda, who looked over the load. Her eyes lit up significantly when she saw the cake.

"You got a cake? Where in the Overworld did you get a cake?" she murmured, staring dreamily at the gooey confectionery.

"Ol' Benny Carrot gave it to me as a treat. Also, he just so happened to be in need of gold, so he took all three gold ingots off my hands for the rest of the food. The cake was just an extra he wanted me to have." explained Jeff.

That night, Esmeralda made steaming carrot and steak bit soup along with baked potatoes and cake for dessert. Jeff, Esmeralda and Jonah shared one piece of cake, wanting it to last. Jeff couldn't remember the last time he was completely full. Jeff went to bed with a satisfied stomach and a peaceful mind. He was finally at peace now that he knew they wouldn't go hungry any time soon. He would have had a peaceful sleep if it wasn't for his dream.

**Well, it looks like three gold ingots actually DO have a purpose. Now with food for his family, what will Jeff focus on when talking with Norman and Lizzy about the Glitch? And what kind of "dream" is being hinted? Find out next chapter in THE GLITCH!**

**Really, WHO wants a pastry?**


	6. Chapter 6: The Glitch's Origin

**Hello, this is Pastrinator64 with another chapter from THE GLITCH. Last time on THE GLITCH we found Jeff searching desperately for enough food to feed his family. Thankfully, his (literally and figuratively) old friend Benny Carrot was nice enough to give him practically a buffet for his measly gold ingots. Jeff ended the night on a peaceful and happy note, but a hinted dream was on its way. Now we find him near to speak with Norman and Lizzy, who were accidently forgotten about in his trip.**

**Now, let the story commence!**

_Chapter 6: The Glitch's Origin_

Despite the fine meal that had soothed his mind (and stomach), Jeff had a nightmare. He dreamt that he was in the Aether Palace. He was standing in the main hallway. Jeff looked around, but for some reason the place was completely empty. He couldn't hear anything coming from down the hall, but figured that he should find out where he was.

Jeff ran down the giant hallway made of white wool—everything was made of it—and eventually found the end. He skidded to a stop, because the hallway was soon facing wide open sky. Jeff cautiously paused at the edge of the blasted hallway and looked downward. There was a gaping black hole formed in The Void far below, and it was consuming everything within sight.

Jeff stepped back, not wanting to get caught by the immense force. He turned around to run, but found himself facing something else. It was pitch black, and it crackled with black electricity. It had no specific shape, and was constantly shifting around as though it were made of visible plasma.

Jeff didn't want to touch it for he knew it was dangerous and he backed up quickly. Instead, he began moving around the crackling mass of black plasma. Suddenly, he felt an invisible hand grab him and throw him to the ground. Jeff gasped in pain and quickly scrambled backwards.

The mass of black plasma shuddered violently, and then let out a horrible screech. Jeff's ears burned with pain, and then he realized that the screech had turned him deaf. The plasma mass moved closer towards Jeff, forcing him to back up. He crawled backwards until he reached the uneven edge of the broken hallway. The black hole was below him, and he had nowhere else to go.

He looked back up at the plasma mass. It had gained two glowing red slits for eyes, and a gaping red mouth. No teeth were inside, but instead it seemed like the mouth was a black hole in itself. Jeff didn't have time to react before the monster lunged forward and swallowed him whole.

* * *

Jeff awoke in his bed with a start and found himself soaked in sweat. He was also found himself face to face with a zombie. Jeff jumped out of bed and smacked the zombie in the gut, sending it flying backwards into the wall. He didn't have time to get a weapon, so he smashed the zombie with his fists until it finally died.

Jeff stood there, trying to take deep breaths as he calmed himself down. Once he was calm again, he walked over to the window and looked outside. The stars and moon were still in the sky, and he figured he still had about half the night before morning would come.

Jeff sighed and walked over to the chest near his bedside. Once he had his fixed iron sword in his hands he went to bed. He didn't want to be woken up by another zombie unprepared.

* * *

Meanwhile, Norman and Lizzy were trying to find a place to stay. Every door they knocked on didn't answer, and when they went over to Jeff's house to ask him about the Glitch, no one answered again.

As they had knocked hopelessly on the last person's door, Norman sighed and walked outside of the town. Lizzy was disappointed too, because the frigid night was almost unbearable with no place to stay. So instead, they decided to camp out underneath a giant red mushroom. Lizzy would have been bored to death if it wasn't for the Mooshroom who had wandered over, followed by a Mooshroom calf. She was desperate for something to do, so she just fooled around with the calf to spare herself of boredom.

The mother Mooshroom had made its way over to Norman, who was curled up in the cold against the giant stem of the mushroom. He learned that night that Mooshrooms produced an immense amount of body heat, and he used this to make it through the night.

* * *

By the time the sun had begun to rise up past the horizon, both Norman and Lizzy were fully exhausted, and not to mention hungry. They had counted on having dinner with Jeff Ironblock the night before, but for some reason he wasn't at his own house.

They decided to see if he was home so they could still discuss the origin of the Glitch. They made their way back to Jeff's home on Wheatfield Street and Norman stepped up to the door, knocking on it twice. He heard a loud yell of alertness and a thud, and Norman had thoughts of running. But before he could make up his mind, Jeff Ironblock himself had thrown open the door. He was standing there in his boxers, and Norman would have thought this was funny if he hadn't been wearing a deadly look on his face.

"What?! The sun is barely off the horizon, so why are you knocking on my door?" he grumbled.

Norman realized that he might not know it was them, so he explained.

"Jeff, it's Norman and Lizzy from the arena. You promised yesterday that you'd talk to us about the Glitch over dinner, but since you weren't home we decided to ask you now."

Jeff stood there looking confused for a few seconds, but then he suddenly remembered and slapped a hand over his forehead.

"Oh Notch. Sorry! I completely forgot last night! I... I'll go and get some clothes on; we can talk about this over breakfast!" he declared, rushing back into his house.

For about three minutes Norman heard the sound of rapid footsteps coming from above, and after that time period Jeff came back down in regular clothes. He beckoned them inside, and they sat down in the kitchen at the dinner table. Jeff scowled and sat down in an empty chair.

"Ack! I can't believe I forgot about that! Where did you stay last night?" he murmured, staring at Norman and Lizzy.

"We didn't have anywhere to sleep, and we ended up camping out under a giant mushroom outside. It wasn't all that bad, though; a Mooshroom and her calf appeared around the middle of the night." replied Lizzy.

Just then, something came running into the room. It was a tamed wolf. The wolf (dog) came zooming into the kitchen, and tried to jump up onto Lizzy's lap. She laughed and stroked the dog, who started whining lovingly.

"And who's this?" she asked.

Jeff took a bone out and held it in his hand.

"Oh, right. That's Bonemeal, our family dog. Shoo, boy."

Bonemeal disappeared from the kitchen when Jeff chucked the bone in his hand into an adjacent room. Jeff turned back to Norman and Lizzy. (Lizzy seemed a lot more interested in Bonemeal than the Glitch, so she was fidgeting a lot.)

Norman held out his hands and made a rolling gesture.

"So... What IS the Glitch?" he asked.

Jeff took a deep breath and began to explain.

"Well, I had a dream last night about the Glitch, and during it my memory was refreshed about where it had come from. I brought this book down so that you could read about it." he explained, handing a large book to Norman.

Norman looked at the front cover. The title was The Ancient Monsters of Minecraft and the cover was completely black on every side, making it look like it was crafted from shadows. When Norman flipped the book open to the first page, a cloud of dust was scattered into the air. Norman coughed for a few seconds, but didn't stop himself from reading.

The first page read Chapter 1: Mechacreeper. Norman flipped through the entire book, looking for something about the Glitch. He passed new chapters that said things like Chapter 2: Tanglera or Chapter 3. Zombulk or Chapter 4. Skull and Crossbows. The chapters each contained a horrific looking monster that represented every different hostile mob, and almost all of them were ones Norman had never seen before.

Finally, Norman flipped to the last page of the book. This one read Chapter of Darkness: The Glitch. Norman suddenly found himself nervous, so he took a calming breath and flipped to the back of the page, which contained one long paragraph. This is what it said...

_**The Glitch's Origin**_

_**The most fearsome and evil monster of all time is the Glitch. The Glitch is what some could call indescribable, but here we still have its origin. The Glitch was found deep in the world beyond The Void when Notch had extended the boundaries of The Void four hundred years ago. It emerged from the infinite darkness and began to possess everything in the world of Minecraft, causing mayhem and chaos. Its power had been able to access other dimensions outside of the Minecraft Dimension as well, and it wrecked havoc wherever it went. The Glitch also created giant mutants from out of the smaller mobs of the Minecraft world, such as the Mechacreeper and Skull and Crossbows. Although it did not create the Wither—who is Herobrine's owned monster—and the Enderdragon—who had recently become another ruler for the End and not just a monster—it still seemed to become unstoppable. The Glitch and its giant monsters terrorized the Minecraft Dimension for a long time, but were finally able to be stopped. The three rulers of the Minecraft world grouped together and formed a powerfully enchanted prison deep inside The Void, which they agreed to be the hardest place for the Glitch to escape. The three rulers—Notch, Herobrine, and Queen Enderdragon—sealed the Glitch and its monsters inside the magic prison to stop it from sucking all dimensions—even the ones outside of the Minecraft Dimension—into a neverending black hole similar to that of The Void. Although, the Glitch has been contained for a long time, and it is beginning to grow restless. It is possible that the magic prison will eventually not be able to contain the Glitch any longer, and it may try once again to revive its evil mutant monsters and erase the world of Minecraft.**_

Norman looked up from the book and turned his head to Lizzy, who had been reading over his shoulder. She was actually a slow reader, so she took another minute to finish. She looked down at Norman, then up at Jeff, who was waiting patiently.

"It says that the prison was beginning to break and that the Glitch may come back and destroy all dimensions. Only it already has come back... Wait, if it's going to swallow all dimensions, does that include our world back on Earth? You know, the 3rd Dimension?" asked Lizzy.

Jeff took the book back and closed it.

"I'm afraid that you are correct, the Glitch will have the power to swallow EVERY dimension known to existence and even the unknown ones. I'm assuming that the power used to seal up the Glitch the first time is probably gone from Notch, Herobrine, and Queen Enderdragon for good. This time the Glitch might just be too powerful." Jeff murmured as he was putting the old book back in a chest nearby.

Lizzy's mouth hung open slightly, and her eyes became panicked.

"Oh... Well, what are we supposed to do?"

Jeff frowned slightly as he leaned forward on the table.

"Well, every year when the young Dungeoneers are chosen to become part of the Slayers—who are basically all the Dungeoneers chosen from around this dimension—the armies go in as one big group to try and find where the Glitch's secret stronghold is. Every year they are unsuccessful, and many young ones die in the process. So in other words, I think what you two need to aim for is to get into training school to become Dungeoneers..." suggested Jeff.

Norman leaned back and let out a breath. He thought about the idea for a few seconds, and then asked Jeff a question.

"Um, when does training start and end?"

Jeff bit his lip, and that sent the message to Norman that the answer wouldn't be so good.

"Well, you start going to Training School at the age of ten and each year the fourteen year olds finish at the Summer Solstice. So in other words..."

Norman's mouth hung open. If someone had told him he'd be spending an entire year in an alternate dimension training to go into a war, he would have thought the person had been recently in conversation with Lizzy. He looked close at Jeff, but he showed no sign of leg pulling. Norman put his head in his hands when he realized that he'd be spending a MUCH longer time in Minecraft than he had expected.

Plus, they had a lot of catching up to do for the three years he and Lizzy missed.

**Oh, come on! They have to spend an entire year in that place? And just about when they thought they could find a way out, too! How will Norman and Lizzy manage being away from home for a year in this alternate dimension? Will they do well in training or will they flunk all their classes? Will they become Dungeoneers and fight off the Glitch in some future heroic battle, or will they be stranded on the Mushroom Island forever?! Find out next chapter in THE GLITCH!**

**No, really, does ANYONE want a pastry?**


	7. Chapter 7: Blockbusting Day

**Hello, this is Pastrinator64 with another chapter from THE GLITCH. Last time on THE GLITCH we found Norman and Lizzy wandering about, confused on Jeff's absence and trying to find a place to stay. After spending the night underneath a giant red mushroom, Norman and Lizzy went back to Jeff's house and thankfully he answered. Soon after, the two discovered something about the Glitch's origin and how it came from the depths of The Void. Unfortunately, Norman and Lizzy are being forced to stay an ENTIRE YEAR inside the Minecraft Dimension in order to train for defeating the Glitch. Now we find the two one year later on the day of graduation. (Note, this is actually a longer chapter, so just a heads-up.)**

**Now, let the story commence!**

_Chapter 7: Blockbusting Day_

It was the weirdest—but most exciting—year of Norman's life. Both he and Lizzy had still been able to join the schools even though they were three years behind, but they had so much more work to do. Lizzy hated homework so much and had quite average grades, but eventually she grew to like her homework, because it was usually something besides a worksheet or an essay.

Sometimes it even felt like real school. They had a lot of fun meeting new and equally mischievous people, pulling pranks on the teachers by sneaking silverfish inside of the classroom supplies chests, and replacing the wooden floors in the cafeteria with melons. Yep, Norman had a lot of fun. Or at least for the most part...

Considering they were going in so late, they didn't get the best of grades. Norman and Lizzy enjoyed the work, but barely passed by with B's. Norman was disappointed in himself, because in his regular school he got at least A's in every class—with the exception of gym. He thought he would do even better here, but living in the world of Minecraft was so much harder than just controlling the character.

Also, Norman learned that many things other things changed when living in Minecraft as well. First of all, Norman was surprised how weird it was to punch a tree for wood at first. Here he could just slam it with his fists, make it crack significantly, and then destroy it. Like in the game, when he destroyed a block, its miniature version popped into view, and it flew into his chest when he went near it.

His inventory was shown on a cubical backpack called a Blockpack that Norman brought with him everywhere. When he zipped it open, there were many squares printed inside where he could insert the stacks of blocks. Whenever he held a tool or a weapon or a piece of armor, it grew to the regular size once it was out of the Blockpack, and vice versa.

And finally, every student that came into the school had to receive surgery. On their non-dominant arm a grid would be inserted into their arm. The little grid planted in their arm would show which nine items they were holding in the slots, and whatever was in each slot was a two dimensional version so that the grid wasn't clunky. That was how everyone showed the hotbar of their inventory, basically. So for Norman, he would forever have a tattoo on his left arm.

Norman got used to these strange new habits he was introduced to within the year, and by the time he was fourteen it was quite normal. Lizzy seemed to get used to this even faster, and Norman was confused by this, because she never had played an hour of video games in her life.

But a year later from when they first found out—they couldn't take the final exams because Summer Solstice had ended a week before they knew what they had to do—came Blockbusting Day. Blockbusting Day was the final day of the students' training years on the Summer Solstice where all the ending students took their final exams.

There were four trials in the final exams. The first one was to test strength, then wits, then flexibility, and finally problem solving. Norman and Lizzy lived in two rooms of their own in the training school they attended; Diamond University. Norman woke up early that morning and got ready.

Once awake, Norman jumped out of bed and headed to his supplies chest. He couldn't bring anything with him, so he checked his inventory from his Blockpack and put away everything he still had with him. Bringing supplies was considered cheating for the final exams, and the last thing he needed was to be disqualified.

Norman and Lizzy had agreed to meet in the Commons at 5:30 since it started at 6:00. Once Norman had put away his things, he dressed into normal clothing and freshened himself up. He then stepped outside the hallway. He didn't see anyone in the hall except for one of his new friends. His name was Patrick. Patrick was extremely tall and gangly, and was surprisingly witty.

Norman caught up with Patrick, who was walking about five feet forward in every stride. Norman had to jog to keep the same pace, and Patrick looked down and saw him as he approached.

"Oh, hey Norman! You ready for the exams? Boy, I sure hope I pass this time..." he muttered.

Patrick had done so badly at the exams last year that he was actually held back, so he was already fifteen. Only this time he had grades three times better, so he was confident he would finish. Norman nodded to his question and said,

"I'm pretty sure I'll pass, just not with flying colors. You know how hard it's been since I was transported here..." he murmured, not always comfortable with talking about the topic.

He had told Patrick all about what happened back home, and Patrick actually believed him, but he was wise enough not to push too far on the topic. Norman was constantly worrying about his family, and he desperately hoped that the time he was spending here in Minecraft was a lot longer than the time he was missing on Earth. But still, Norman had finally accepted the fact that he was in an alternate dimension, and tried not to think about it.

Norman and Patrick walked down the wooden stairs all the way down to the Commons where about a hundred fourteen year were waiting, all ready to start the exams. Norman and Patrick instantly found Lizzy standing around the edge of the crowd. When she spotted them, she literally bounced over—she still maintained her fun personality throughout the long year—and stopped in front of them.

"Sooooooooooooooooooooo... You guys ready to rock?!" she screamed.

This act of dorkiness attracted stares from at least half the students in the room. Norman guided Lizzy farther into the crowd so that they weren't in plain sight. Unfortunately, they found Danny standing in their way. He was mean, plain and simple. He was extremely tall and muscular, already had a slight moustache and some stubble, and had a group of three cronies following him everywhere. Two guys named Gabe and Bryce and an obnoxious girl (Alyssa) continuously sucked up to him, and Norman was very annoyed by them.

Danny stepped forward towards them; his massive body seeming like it had its own gravity.

"Hey there, Noobman. I can see your girlfriend is excited for the exams. She looks like she can hardly contain her antics." he announced, his voice booming through the room.

A couple of people chuckled, but then the room fell silent. Everyone seemed to be watching them. The last thing Norman wanted was to attract attention, so he tried to walk around Danny.

"Sorry, we have to be somewhere." he muttered.

Danny stepped in front of him again, enjoying himself greatly.

"I'm sure it's not that important. Listen, I know you're confident about the exams, but just don't get too cocky. You have no chance of becoming a Bedrock champion, and everyone knows it!"

More people laughed this time, and Alyssa laughed in a high pitched tone. Norman hated it when she did that, because it sounded UNNATURALLY fake. A shudder ran down his spine and he tried walking around Danny again.

"Noobman, my entire family has been made of Bedrock champions for five generations now, and I'm not going to break that tradition. So in other words..." Danny leaned forward and put himself in Norman's face. "...Don't even think about taking that title, or... Well, you just use your imagination. Got it?"

Norman just stood there for a few seconds, Danny still staring menacingly at him. He didn't want to walk away now, but he couldn't think of anything clever to say. There was only one thing he could think of. He spread out his forefinger and middle finger and poked Danny in the eyes. Danny had been staring at him a little too close, and was exposed completely.

Danny roared in pain and cupped his hands over his eyes, yelling at the top of his lungs.

"ARGH! I HATE YOU! I'M GONNA KILL YOU, NOOBMAN! SCREW YOU! GO TO THE NETHER AND JUMP IN A LAVA PIT, YOU UNDESERVING PIECE OF CRAP!"

He was definitely making quite a scene, and Norman realized he might have prodded him a bit too hard. Through Danny's cupped hands, Norman saw a flash of red. He was bleeding. Norman instantly regretted his actions, and hurried past Danny as he swore in his direction and flipped him off at least ten times. He hid himself among the crowds, and unfortunately he wasn't able to get back with either Lizzy or Patrick.

Danny didn't want to make a fool of himself any more, and he went to the bathroom to wash off his eyes. About ten silent minutes went by—everyone was standing around kind of awkwardly after the turn of events—before one of the staff members finally entered the Commons. A middle aged man who looked like your everyday guy—average height with neat brown hair, brown eyes, and shiny white teeth—made his way through the students to the center of the room. He was a Mobwhisperer, and he could speak with bats. His name, in fact, was Boris Bats.

Boris made his way through the crowd until he reached the center of the commons, followed by his pet bat; Carlos.

Once headmaster Boris and Carlos the bat had made it to the center of the room, Boris cleared his throat, which echoed across the now silent Commons.

"Attention all students about to take their final exams, the trials will take place outside in the monster training field so that everyone can fit in to do their testing. If you will, follow me outside, and the tests will begin soon!" he announced.

As Boris began hustling out the main doors of Diamond University, all the students followed behind him. Norman ducked through the crowd, he found Lizzy and Patrick walking near the edge, careful to avoid Danny at all costs. When he reached them, Lizzy grabbed Norman had by the shoulder.

"Norman! Oh my Notch, I'm not sure what to say! What were you thinking back there with Danny?!" she demanded.

"I was thinking of a way to walk off not looking like a wimp, and that was the first thing that came to my mind. Yeah..."

Norman tried walking faster, but both Lizzy and Patrick stayed in step with him. The three of them walked behind the crowd until they had made their way out the building and into the monster training field. This was where all the jocks who work specifically in the mob slaying aspect of training go to compete. The biggest mob they ever had there was a Ghast, but that was also the year that the field was set on fire.

Norman and his friends stepped out onto the giant field. He noticed that all the younger students had come to watch. Apparently, that was supposed to happen, and Norman felt even more nervous when he realized that these tests were going to be shown to the entire school.

Around him were his friends, enemies, and acquaintances; every one of them wanted to gain their new names and powers. Most of the people there were beginning to grow restless, and finally Norman heard Boris announcing that the tests would begin.

The crowd of test takers and the stands of younger students fell silent as soon as the announcement was made. Norman stood on his tiptoes to get a glimpse of Boris standing behind a podium made of wooden planks. His naturally loud voice boomed through the field.

"Alright! Now that we can begin, I believe that the first event is the Test of Strength. You must pick one hostile mob to fight, and it can be any at all. Harder mobs will give you a better score if you can beat them, but if you can't you will be downgraded. Simpler mobs will give you a lower score, but are easier to defeat, so you won't have to worry about losing. Now, if you DO lose to an easy mob, you will be severely downgraded. Now then, Coach Cobblestone will be directing you." he explained, gesturing towards the tall and muscular Coach standing beside him.

Coach Cobblestone stepped into better view and set everyone into a single file line according to their first names.

"Ok, shrimps! You all will get one weapon to choose from and one piece of armor when you fight, so choose wisely! Now then, I will call you up to fight in alphabetical order and by age, so everyone just be patient!" the Coach took out an empty map that had been fashioned into a list of names and began to read aloud. "Alright! First up is Arren!"

Norman felt it was kind of weird to just say people's first names, but here it seemed pretty normal. Arren was a younger short kid—smaller than Lizzy even—who seemed to be nervous all the time. He walked up cautiously, and suddenly he managed to trip on flat ground, which caused a few people to snicker. Coach Cobblestone looked around at the crowd and said,

"Hey! If I hear any of you kids giggling back there, you're all gonna be flunked and you'll be spending a week carrying cobblestone in your Blockpacks and nothing else, so shut it! Yeah I said it, for that you'll be held back and given extra homework even if you pass these tests! Now then, Arren, which mob are you going to choose?"

Arren whimpered slightly as he stood back up, and said the weakest mob he could think of.

"Uh... Uh... Silverfish, please... Uh... Yeah..." he sputtered, obviously terrified out of his mind.

Coach Cobblestone nodded and cupped his hands around his mouth.

"Bring out a Silverfish!"

About five feet from Arren's position spawned a single Silverfish. It located Arren quickly and made a little hiss. Without even taking time to snatch up a weapon, Arren screamed at the top of his lungs and ran out of the field. No one moved for about a second, and Coach Cobblestone quickly ended the silence.

"Erm, ok. Now then, let's just continue on without Arren. Alex! Alex, you're next!"

Norman watched student after student come up to face a mob. Almost all of them passed the test except for a few people who picked mobs too hard like Blazes and Witches. Something surprising happened when one girl named Bailey came up and decided to face a Creeper. When the monster came out, everyone found out that she was a Mobwhisperer for Creepers. The Creeper instantly became her new pet, and rolled over like a dog for her to rub its belly, hissing in a friendly way. Even Bailey had no idea this would happen, but she accepted it as a good surprise. She named the Creeper Butterball and it followed her for the rest of the day.

And unfortunately for Norman, his turn came up a little too quickly, and his heart gave a jump when he heard his name. Norman quietly walked through the crowd t get to the front, ignoring Danny's idiotic snickers. (He had passed with flying colors by slicing the head off a Blaze within four seconds of it spawning, so he was cocky.)

"Alright son, what mob are you gonna pick, huh?" asked Coach Cobblestone.

Norman hadn't taken time to think over his decision, and he said the first mob that came to his mind.

"Um..." Everyone was looking at him, and he felt his throat dry up for a few seconds. "I think I'll pick the, uh... The Enderman."

The entire crowd fell silent at that point. Coach Cobblestone was the only one who praised him on his courage, and he brought out an Enderman instantly. The Enderman towered over the students, and everyone was smart enough not to make eye contact. Everyone was looking at the ground while the Enderman scanned his surroundings. Norman still looked at the Enderman, though—it was his mob to fight. With caution Norman crept over to a table where many items were scattered; all types of armor and weapons. You could even pick tools to use, so technically you could fight a mob with a fishing pole or shears if you wanted.

Norman's favorite material ever was diamond. He loved it as much as everyone else, so it was something he wasn't laughed at for. So, Norman walked over and picked up a diamond shovel and a pair of diamond boots. These were his two favorites. He was glad everyone had their eyes glued to the floor, because someone would have laughed at him because of his choice. He even didn't know why diamond shovels were more appealing to him than swords.

Once Norman had the diamond shovel and the boots equipped, he looked back up at the Enderman. It was staring off in the opposite direction of where he was. Norman approached the Enderman slowly, and the moment he stepped one foot forward the Enderman whirled around and started racing towards him, his mouth agape and his eyes pulsing with a deep violet glow.

Norman backed up quickly because of the unexpected attack. The Enderman swiped at him with its long arms and tried to ram into him to push him over. Norman knew picking the Enderman was a stupid choice, but nevertheless he knew how to beat it. Norman had played and LIVED Minecraft for a long time, and he had developed enough skills to do well.

As soon at the Enderman jolted towards him in one burst, he smacked it in the chest with his diamond shovel, and it made a grunting noise and teleported, leaving a trail of purple snowflakes. Norman watched the trail of the snowflakes and spotted the Enderman coming back from about seven blocks away.

Again he whacked the Enderman with his diamond shovel and it teleported once more. Norman repeated this process for about thirty more seconds, and he was sure that the Enderman was nearly finished. But then, just as he was about to hit the Enderman for a final blow, the Enderman teleported directly behind him and whacked him in the back. Norman flopped onto the ground and let out a gasp. He looked up and saw that everyone was now watching him now that the Enderman was already angry at him.

He looked and saw Danny chuckling in the front with his thugs, pointing stupidly at him. But Norman was being a little too oblivious, because the Enderman did something then that it was never supposed to do; something only an Enderman being controlled by the Glitch could do. It picked him up and crumpled him into an obtainable block. It was the most pain Norman had ever felt in his life, and he felt like he was being crushed by a thousand pounds of obsidian.

Suddenly, he felt himself being dropped to the ground in his normal form. His vision had turned foggy, and his body ached terribly. He had just enough strength to look up and see Coach Cobblestone taking out a diamond sword. The Coach killed the Enderman himself, and it dropped a single Ender Pearl. Coach Cobblestone quickly ran over to Norman and helped him up.

"Son, you ok? That Enderman must have been plagued by that Glitch thing." he muttered angrily.

Norman stood up with shaky legs and caught hold of the Coach's shoulder while he caught his breath.

"Are you sure you can do the rest of the tests, Norman?" asked Coach Cobblestone.

Norman nodded and walked back into the crowd, still feeling a little sickened. Just as he was entering the crowd, Danny had yelled at the top of his lungs.

"Hey, Noobman! What's it like being square-headed?!"

The crowd of students howled with laughter, and Norman felt his cheeks burn intensely, and he hid himself quickly among the crowd. Coach Cobblestone shushed the crowd soon after and speedily finished up the Trial of Strength for the rest of the students.

Norman pushed the entire scene out of his mind when he heard headmaster Boris come back up to the podium and declare that the Trial of Wits was coming next. This challenge involved quite a lot of thinking, and Norman grinned at the thought of how Danny would go through it.

All of the students gathered on the top right corner of the field where there was only a single chest. Coach Cobblestone brought up everyone in the same manner as before. Every challenge was different for each student, so Norman grumbled at not having the advantage of watching other people's strategies. Someone had to arrange colored wool in order of appearance in the world of Minecraft while someone else had to figure out how to create all possible infinite sources.

Norman came up a little more confidently than last time—because he was much stronger in these parts of units—and stood up straight when he reached the front of the crowd. Coach Cobblestone pulled a small slip of paper from a chest from random and read it aloud.

"Challenge #64: Name all of the possible items and blocks that do not stack up to 64. Do this within two minutes and you will succeed. Your time starts now."

Norman ran through all the blocks in his head and listed off all the things he could.

"Mushroom Stew, Snowballs, Cake, Water Bucket, Lava Bucket, Milk Bucket, all armor, all weapons, and all tools."

Norman watched nervously as the Coach looked at the answer sheet. After skimming the list, he said to Norman,

"Oh man, you only got eight out of fourteen right. You missed chicken eggs, sign, Ender Pearls, Dragon Eggs, and Monster Spawners. Also, not all tools aren't stackable; compasses and clocks are stackable to 64. That scores a 57%. Sorry kid, that's an F."

Norman froze in place as the laughter from his classmates blasted in his ears. He wasn't even sure where he was for a moment. He didn't even notice when Coach Cobblestone pushed him back into the crowd of students so that they could continue. Norman's thoughts were racing around in his head. He had seen before that he was given a 79% (C+) on the Trial of Strength, and now he's got an F. He was averaging at a D+ so far, and he had a feeling he might have to be held back if he didn't do perfect on the next tests. Norman shook his head to bring himself into reality, and he promised himself he'd get a perfect score on the next two trials.

After everyone had finished the Trial of Wits, they moved to the top left corner of the field for the Trial of Flexibility. For this trial, you were tested on how well you could adapt to situations. There were a varying array of habitats set up there. One by one students would have to come up and be put in a random mini biome area. They would be given different situations for their area and they'd have to solve it within thirty seconds.

Once Norman came up, he heard many snickers from the crowd. He looked over and noticed Patrick and Lizzy standing up front, and thankfully they were both giving him a thumbs-up. Norman didn't feel that much better, because he remembered that Lizzy was passing so far with a B and Patrick had an A, so they had nothing to worry about yet.

Norman stepped into a normal plains biome. Suddenly, he heard someone shouting at him. Coach Cobblestone was giving directions.

"Alright, a nasty thunderstorm is beginning, and you are on the peak of a large hill just under the clouds. Become safe from the lightning within thirty seconds. Go!" he exclaimed.

As Norman found himself standing atop a mountain and a random—yet rough—thunderstorm rolled in, he quickly slammed his fist at the dirt underneath him and dug his way down five blocks until he was standing on stone. He then made a hollowed out room that was merely 3x3. In his last two seconds he placed a leftover dirt block above him and shut himself away from the terrible storm. It was pitch black inside, and Norman just heard Coach Cobblestone's voice from outside.

"New situation! You are now underground standing on the edge of a ravine with only a stone pickaxe and lava is flowing far below. Get to the other edge of the ravine without falling! You have thirty seconds, go!"

Norman then found himself standing on the short ledge of a small ravine; lava bubbling below. He had to cross a gap that was five blocks long. Norman wasted no time and began to mine the rock in behind him until he had five blocks of it. He then spent his last twenty sneaking along the edge of the blocks he was standing on, but soon he had only two seconds left. He forgot about placing the last block and instead he jumped onto the other ledge on the opposite side of the ravine. Thankfully, he made the jump and didn't fall into the lava below. Again Coach Cobblestone's voice echoed from somewhere far off.

"Final challenge! You are being swarmed by thirty spiders in the middle of a plains biome. Stay alive for the thirty seconds you have. Remember, spiders are slightly faster than you! You have thirty seconds, go!"

Norman was then teleported into a small area of plains. That same instant, thirty spiders appeared three blocks away from his position. Norman decided to sprint that time to avoid the spiders, and as a result he had gone down to a low hunger amount. The spiders were starting to catch up with still 23 seconds, so Norman used that time to gather at exactly eight blocks of dirt. The spiders were only five blocks away by the time he had built a four block high tower with four ledges, one on each end. This prevented any spiders from climbing up and killing him for the last five seconds of his time.

Coach Cobblestone slammed hard on a note block, signaling the end of the three tests within the Trial of Flexibility. Norman was transported back onto the grounds of the field, and he found himself finally standing in front of Coach Cobblestone. The Coach read to him his scores aloud once he had appeared.

"Not bad, kid. You scored an eight out of ten for the first situation, nine and a half out of ten for the second, and a nine out of ten for the final one. That averages out to an 88%, so that's a B+. Alright Oliver, you're up next!" called Coach Cobblestone.

Norman ran the numbers through his head again, and now he had a total average of a C. He was still nervous, because that's not exactly the greatest score. After every student had finished the Trial of Flexibility, the final trial was going to take place. The last one was the Trial of Problem Solving. This one was specialized on how well you could use the given objects to make something or survive against a certain attack in under ten minutes. Norman felt he was pretty good at this, and he was confident he'd do even better this time.

The entire group of students walked over to the bottom left corner of the field where there were also many different biomes set up. Coach Cobblestone ran through the rules and began to send students into the biomes at random. Once it was Norman's turn, he was ushered into his biome.

Norman found himself being put in a blazing desert. They even had fires lit underneath his biome replica to make it blistering hot. Norman was told to build a house that was zombie-proof. He only had ten minutes, and he made the most out of his time. He was only given one skeleton spawn egg, one block of dirt, one crafting table, sixteen sticky pistons, and one spruce sapling. And he was required to use a door. Norman only had to think for about five seconds before he knew what to do.

Norman spawned the skeleton, which shot at him instantly. But Norman dodged the first arrow and punched the skeleton to death. It dropped an arrow and two bones. He set down his crafting table and converted the bones into bone meal. He then placed the block of dirt and planted the spruce sapling. He then gave some bonemeal to the sapling and it grew to a full sized tree. Once he had obtained five wood blocks and had turned them into wooden planks, he found that he had nine more minutes. He ran to his crafting table and made two wooden pickaxes. For two more minutes he mined down and found the six blocks of iron ore he needed for his doors and enough cobblestone for the furnaces and buttons.

After Norman had built multiple furnaces and had begun to smelt six iron ingot with his leftover wooden planks, he obtained enough sand and sandstone to make a 3x3 house within thirty seconds, and it took thirty more seconds to build his makeshift fort. The roof was only three blocks high, and had a sandstone floor and roof.

In only one more minute, Norman took his new iron ingot and leftover cobblestone and crafted an iron door and two buttons. He made an entrance with the iron door and placed a button on both sides of the block above it. His home was finished, and he still had five minutes to spare. He zoomed back in his puny iron mine and mined three more iron to make an iron pickaxe, and he still had one wooden plank left to make sticks. Once acquiring his iron pickaxe in just under a minute, Norman dug like crazy into the ground, and finally found one block of redstone ore. By the time Norman had come back up, he only had a minute and a half left.

Norman quickly dug a two block deep pit around his house and then made his way back out. He used his small amount of redstone, his sticky pistons, and his leftover materials to make a trap. When he turned the newly made switch, it would power each sticky piston using the redstone and would take away the blocks above the surrounding zombies, sending them into the pit.

Norman unfortunately did not have time to test his trap, because his time was up. Just as he was rushing inside his makeshift house, Coach Cobblestone called out,

"Alright, times up! Bring in the wave of zombies!" declared the coach.

Fifteen zombies spawned two blocks from the house, and they all were able to see Norman inside through the door, so they began to mutter and gurgle and surround the iron door. Norman laughed at the zombies because they couldn't get in, and he decided to relish a new moment by using his trap.

Norman flipped the switch and immediately heard the sticky pistons doing their job. But for some reason, Norman's trap backfired, and he had accidently wired the pistons incorrectly, because the redstone connections were canceling each other out, causing the pistons to move out and then immediately back in. This caused all four sides of Norman's sand walls to fall down into the pit instead, leaving the corners of the house and the roof alone; Norman was standing there wide open. Just as the zombies were about to swarm around and kill him, Coach Cobblestone slammed his fist down on the note block, and the zombies all disappeared.

Norman was full of dread as he walked over to Coach Cobblestone. He was looking over the score sheet, and he sighed just before he read it aloud.

"In this challenge, you used your time perfectly up until you decided to make the zombie trap. You should have just left your house alone after that, because redstone traps take more time than you used. Redstone wiring can sometimes be tricky, and this trap resulted in sending your sand walls into the pit, leaving you completely exposed. I'm going to have to take off points for that... Let's see, I believe you got a 70% or in other words a C-, so at least it's not an F!" he decided.

Norman hoped that the Coach wasn't insulting him on purpose and that he didn't mean to hurt his feelings. Norman had to run his final scores through his head once more. His stomach tightened when he got the answer; he finished at an average of 74%, so he was still at a C. Norman felt like crying for a few moments, but then remembered that everyone else was still around, all waiting for the final trial to be over. Once the last person had finished the Trial of Problem Solving, it was time for each student to gather in the Commons again to receive their block powers. Norman almost didn't want to gain anything at all, because he was afraid of what he would get. But like everyone else, he followed Boris and Carlos the bat into the Commons.

The ceremony was about to begin.

**Poor Norman, how could Coach Cobblestone be such a jerk? Will Norman end up with a pitiful block power based on his C average? How did Lizzy and Patrick do on their tests and what might they receive? And WHY must Danny be such an annoying pinhead (besides, Noobman is a really lame nickname)? Find out next chapter on THE GLITCH!**

**I'm not joking, does ANYONE want a pastry? Anyone?**


	8. Chapter 8: The Blockbusting Ceremony

**Hello, this is Pastrinator64 with another chapter from THE GLITCH. Last time on THE GLITCH we witnessed an up-to-date version of Norman's life one year from the previous chapter. We watched Norman experience each of the four trials he had to complete to graduate, and unfortunately he was given a terrible score. (Dang it, that Coach Cobblestone...) Now we find him awaiting to be called up to be bestowed his block power in fornt of the ENTIRE university.**

**Now, let the story commence!**

_Chapter 8: The Blockbearing Ceremony_

The ceremony at the end of four trials was called the Blockbearing Ceremony; a surprisingly similar name compared to the day itself. People were chatting quietly as they entered Diamond University once again. The test had gone all the way until sunset, so the sky was beginning to turn dim and the sun glowed a beautiful red.

Even the pretty sunset couldn't take Norman's mind off his scores. He had done terrible on all the tests except for the third one, and now he ended with a C. He felt humiliated as he settled amongst the crowd and ran his thoughts through his head. Eventually, Lizzy and Patrick found him; they both looked excited, which didn't help Norman at all. Lizzy looked up at Patrick and said,

"This is great! I averaged as an A- on the tests!"

Patrick grinned and folded his arms together.

"Yeah, I just barely finished with an A+ at a 98%. What did you get?" asked Patrick as he looked down at Norman, who was avoiding his gaze.

Norman didn't respond for about five seconds, but he figured they would bug him until they found out, so he grumbled and turned to look at them.

"I averaged out on a C, so shut up."

Lizzy's mouth dropped open and she looked at him in disbelief.

"What?! I think they gave you totally unfair scores on those tests! Plus, the Trial of Strength was so stupid; it wasn't your fault you lost to that Enderman, that thing did things it wasn't supposed to! And yet, they take off points for that! Ugh, sometimes I hate teachers..." she grumbled.

Norman felt immediately better that Lizzy felt angry and annoyed like him. Patrick looked like he was about to say something, but he stopped and pointed up at the podium where Boris had before stood. Norman turned around to see that he was there again. Instead of a podium, now there was a three-block-long table. On each tabletop was a glowing bucket. The first one was a bucket of water that glowed blue, then a bucket of lava that glowed red, and finally a bucket of milk that glowed white.

Boris's face turned serious and he stopped smiling as he began to announce the beginning of the ceremony.

"Alright, everyone! Now that the four trials have finally finished, it is now time for the Blockbearing Ceremony to begin. I will call you by first name in alphabetical order and of age to come up and be categorized. When you are called up, you will drink from each of these buckets. Two of them will taste terrible, but one will taste as sweet as honey. Whichever you drank from that was sweet is how you will be determined. Now then, I will begin the ceremony at once." declared Boris.

Boris held out a sheet of paper and began to read off names. First up was Arren. Arren nervously walked up to the tables holding the glowing buckets of liquid. He obediently drank from each of them. He told Boris that the Water tasted sweet as honey, and in response Boris declared Arren's placement to the entire crowd.

"You have been chosen by the Water of Prosperity to become a Veyacraft. I hereby bestow upon you the block power of Pumpkin, the rich and intimidating. You will live as Arren Pumpkin for the rest of your life; may Notch bestow his blessings upon you." declared Boris.

Boris then called up the next person, Alex. Alex was more confident than Arren, and he stepped up with eagerness. He tasted each of the buckets and told Boris that the Lava tasted sweet. Boris declared the newest decision.

"You have been chosen by the Lava of Power to become a Dungeoneer. I hereby bestow up you the block power of Anvil, the heavy-duty and durable. You will live as Alex Anvil for the rest of your life; may Notch bestow his blessings upon you." declared Boris.

Norman watched as Lizzy went up and become a Veyacraft with the block power of Cake. Patrick soon after became a Dungeoneer with the block power of Obsidian. Norman normally would have congradulated them, but he was so worried about getting a useless block power that he was distracted.

One by one students would come up and receive their powers. Norman figured that the Milk bucket must have been for the Oddblocks. No one had been picked to be an Oddblock yet, and everyone seemed relieved about that. Unfortunately, Danny had received Bedrock powers, so Norman kept in mind that he would have to avoid him from now on. Norman couldn't decide what was worse; being an Oddblock or not getting any placement. Norman didn't feel sorry for Bailey at all, because now that people knew she was a Mobwhisperer for Creepers, she didn't have to take any of the exams and she didn't even need to attend the Blockbearing Ceremony.

Once Boris had reached the middle of the list, he called Norman up to the tables. Norman took a deep breath and decided he would just get it over with. Once Norman had reached the tables, he groaned when he noticed that that Molly Dirtslab—who hadn't gotten a placement at all and wasn't exactly the smartest knife in the drawer—had slobbered her fat lips all over every bucket. Norman had to clean off each of them with his shirt before it was sanitary.

He drank from the Water of Prosperity, and he experienced a terribly bitter taste. He sputtered and then moved onto the Lava of Power. He drank from that, and nearly choked when he realized that it tasted ten times worse. Norman then looked at the milk bucket on the end. His stomach twisted into a knot when he realized that the milk was his only choice. He reluctantly drank from the milk bucket, which unfortunately tasted like honey. He pushed it back and looked up at Boris, who was waiting patiently.

"The... The milk tastes sweet, sir..." he murmured, half hoping he was too quiet.

But Boris heard him, and announced his humiliating placement.

"You have been chosen by the Milk of Mystery to become an Oddblock. I hereby bestow upon you the block power of Cobweb, the barricading and clustered. You will live as Norman Cobweb for the rest of your life; may Notch bestow his blessings upon you."

Norman's body manually walked back into the crowd, but his mind numbed up completely. Once it came back into reality, it blasted him with the words: "You are a Cobweb, you loser." over and over. He could have been standing there all night if Lizzy hadn't shaken him awake at the end of the Blockbearing Ceremony.

"Norman? Are you ok?" she asked.

Norman still stared off into nowhere.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm... Yeah... I'm fine..." he muttered.

Lizzy put on her best concerned look to try and get Norman to snap out of it.

"Norman, come on! Don't be sad all the time! I'm going to open my own bakery, and I promise that if I make some good sales then I will give you some goods to trade with people for food. We're only allowed to stay here for the night, and then we have to go out on our own. Don't worry, I promise I'll let you live with me in the bakery. I'm not able to get any cobblestone or wooden planks, so we'll have to build a room in the side of the mountain outside of the village since I can't rent space. C'mon, you need some sleep after this." promised Lizzy.

Norman felt a little better at her offer, and he looked around to see where Patrick had gone to. He didn't see him anywhere, and he decided that he was possibly already up in his room getting ready for bed. Norman followed Lizzy all the way up to the 3rd floor and they went down the hallway until they had both reached their rooms. After bidding Lizzy a good night, Norman opened the door to his room, stepped inside, and shut it again.

Norman flopped down on his bed, and out of his exhaustion from the day he instantly fell asleep. Unfortunately, his dreams were constantly full of cobwebs, which annoyed him greatly.

* * *

The next morning when Norman awoke from his poor sleep, he heard someone rapping on his door. It was his elderly brewing teacher; Professor Netherwart.

"Gordon, it is time for you to depart! Graduating students must leave the university in the morning. Eh? Are you in there Gordon?" he murmured.

Norman grumbled loudly to signify he was getting up and reminded the Professor for the millionth time that his name was Norman and not Gordon. So Professor Netherwart finally bid "Gordon" a good day and left. Norman listened to the Professor's footsteps until they were gone, and he jumped out of bed. He had agreed to meet Lizzy outside of their rooms at 7:00 that morning, so Norman kicked into high gear as he packed away his stuff. Norman never had very much stuff with him, and if anything he had supplies for his classes.

His only possessions were his weapon and his armor. He loved diamond so much that he had a full set of it, which he wore in his training when he was allowed to use it, along with his diamond shovel. He was laughed at for this because of using a diamond shovel, but he didn't care at all. His main weapon was actually his diamond shovel, which he had yet to name. Norman learned quickly that items with a limited durability had a health bar printed on them, and he had used his diamond shovel enough where if he used it once more it would break, and he didn't want to have to go mining secretly again.

He didn't have any iron to make an anvil, so he couldn't name it or fix it yet. Norman put his well-used diamond armor in his inventory inside his Blockpack, but kept his diamond shovel out. Thankfully, it LOOKED good as new no matter what condition it was in, so Norman didn't look shabby; this also applied to all other limited items (besides the anvil).

Once Norman had his things stored in his backpack, he stepped outside to find Lizzy waiting for him. Her favorite weapon was really a lot cooler than Norman's. She had found this nerdy kid named Greg in one of her monster slaying classes that was wielding a weapon only from mods outside of the regular world of Minecraft. He was carrying a sickle made of diamond, which did only dealed about one and a half hearts of damage. Although it was weak, you could strike with it three times as fast, so you could deal four and a half hearts of damage in one second. The only bad thing was that it had almost no knockback.

Lizzy had watched Greg every day for weeks in the training gym, and finally she had enough courage to go up and ask to trade. For the first few weeks, he always refused to give up his diamond sickle and he never revealed how he found his mod weapon. But after an entire three weeks of her begging him, he finally made her a deal. Greg said that if she was able to sneak into the kitchen next to the commons and get him headmaster Boris' entire secret stash of cheese—which was a precious mod food he was trying to obtain through secret processes—and get it back to him, he would give her his sickle.

Well, Lizzy was so desperate that she sweet-talked Professor Netherwart into giving her an Invisibility Potion and stole Boris' cheese stash. Once she had given Greg the cheese in return, she got the diamond sickle, which to her annoyance was already half used. But she kept it without complaining, and she too had always been waiting to fix and name it with an anvil.

When Lizzy spotted Norman coming down the hallway, she ran towards him in a hurry, grasping her sickle in her left hand. She was nearly vibrating with excitement, and she couldn't wait to get started with her day as an independent graduate.

"Norman! I've been waiting forever to start the day, and I wanted to wait for you! C'mon, the first thing we need to do is set up my new bakery." declared Lizzy.

They through the hallway, down the stairs, and then into the Commons as quickly as they could. There were many other students exiting the building. Norman looked around nervously, not wanting to come across Danny and be trapped in a prison of bedrock. Once again Patrick was nowhere to be seen, and Norman began to wonder where he had gone to. As Norman and Lizzy stepped out into the cool morning air, Norman had a sense of a new beginning. It was his new beginning.

**Noooooooooooo! Why did Norman have to recieve cobweb powers? How will Norman use these powers and for what purpose? Will he and Lizzy do well in their yet-to-come bakery business? And if not, will Norman and Lizzy be able to survive on their own? Find out next chapter in THE GLITCH!**

**Seriously, doesn't ANYONE out there want a pastry? I'm still offering here...**


	9. Chapter 9: A New Beginning

**Hello, this is Pastrinator64 with another chapter from THE GLITCH. Last time on THE GLITCH we watched Norman observe all of the placements of his classmates. His two friends Lizzy and Patrick got Cake and Obsidian, but when he went up he was placed as a dreadful Oddblock with the block power Cobweb. Now they have left Diamond University to begin their new lives.**

**Now, let the story commence!**

_Chapter 9: A New Beginning_

Norman and Lizzy immediately set to work on the new bakery. The two walked through the streets until they reached the edge of town. They went about five blocks outside the town's boundaries and they began their bakery in the side of a tall slope on the mountain rising above them. After digging a 6x8 room in the side of the mountain, Norman and Lizzy stepped back to look at their new home. At this time, Lizzy turned to Norman and said,

"Alright, now all we need is some wood! Got any?"

Norman shook his head, and instead he turned around to face the rest of the Mushroom Island.

"No, but I'm sure we can chop down some... Oh."

As Norman looked out at the terrain before him, he didn't see a single tree anywhere. The only growing plants were the two different kinds of giant mushrooms, and even those weren't that abundant. He turned back to Lizzy after thinking a bit.

"Erm, how are we going to get wood on a Mushroom Island biome? I mean, the people living here must have gotten wood imported from another place in the Overworld in order to build houses and begin an economy. I mean, now people must have enough trees growing in a greenhouse somewhere that they don't need to rely on other civilizations. Only thing is, I'm sure we can't just walk into Mayor Mushroom's office and ask for free saplings." muttered Norman, trying to think of a solution.

Lizzy frowned when she heard that and scratched her neck.

"Well, do we know anyone who would give us some saplings?"

Both Norman and Lizzy were quiet for a moment, but then they had the same idea within a few seconds.

"Jeff Ironblock!" they said in unison.

Norman and Lizzy left their work in progress to go find Jeff Ironblock. Jeff had stuck with them for their whole year at Diamond University supplying them with everything they needed for their classes. They figured that he could spare them a few saplings.

Once they reached his house, they knocked quickly on the door. A few seconds went by before Esmeralda answered the door. She was not carrying Jonah at the moment, who was fourteen months old already. She smiled when she saw the two and she said,

"Well hello, kids! Would you like to come in and see Jeff?"

The two nodded and stepped inside. As they walked down a small hallway, they saw Jonah playing with Bonemeal in his new bedroom. Norman and Lizzy turned to the right at the end of the hallway to find a dead end. There was a switch attached on the ceiling above, and when Norman flipped it the dead end opened up into Jeff's armory. They stepped inside and were greeted with a smoking scent wafting through the air.

Jeff was in the corner of the room waiting for some iron to smelt. Norman cleared his throat as he and Lizzy entered the room, and Jeff turned his head at the sound. Once seeing Norman and Lizzy, he walked up to them and looked down with a grin on his face.

"Hey guys! What block power did you receive at the ceremony?" he asked eagerly.

Norman looked down at the floor and didn't say anything, so Lizzy answered instead.

"Well, I was chosen to be a Veyacraft and I got the block power of Cake. And, uh... Norman didn't do so well on the tests because of Coach Cobblestone's stupid rules and he, well... He got the block power of Cobweb, and now he's an Oddblock."

Jeff's face fell instantly once he had processed the news in his head.

"Oh, really? Why would they give you such a terrible block power? How did they score you on the tests?" asked Jeff.

Norman looked up at Jeff's crestfallen expression and explained the whole thing. When he was finished, Jeff gained an angry look on his face.

"What?! When I was taking the tests at your age, Coach Cobblestone always gave a fair score. But now, I think he's getting too old for his job. The score you got on the Trial of Strength I think is the worst; that Enderman was being controlled by the Glitch, so there was no reason you should be getting such a bad score for something unnaturally occurring like that. I just think everything has gone downhill ever since the Glitch has appeared again." muttered Jeff.

Jeff took out his well-used armor from his previous battle against a hoard of zombies and was about to repair it on his anvil when he looked at the shovel and sickle in their hands.

"Say, can I help you with your shovel and... Woah!" Jeff dropped his armor to the floor with a clang. "Is... Is that a sickle you're holding?! I've only heard legends about secret weapons hidden in the spaces between our dimension and others that only the most skillful scientists can access, but I've never thought they were actually true! Wow! Where did you get that sickle, Lizzy?" murmured Jeff.

Lizzy smiled as she let a mesmerized Jeff hold the diamond sickle.

"Well, let's just say I know one of the youngest and most skillful scientists in the Overworld who made a deal with me for it. I saw him using the sickle a lot and I finally was able to take it off his hands, though he never did tell me where he got it. Anyways, do you think you could repair the diamond sickle and shovel for us?" asked Lizzy.

Jeff grinned and immediately placed the diamond sickle on the anvil in front of him.

"Definitely! I just got a ton of experience from the battle, and lately I've been saving it, so I have about 80 full bars of it. Do you have armor you need to be repaired?"

Both Norman and Lizzy handed him their full sets of diamond armor. He enough experience for everything including his own things, and when he was repairing the diamond sickle, he lifted his head and said,

"Do you want to name it? I have plenty extra experience here, so name it anything you want."

Lizzy thought about that for a moment, and finally she replied after about ten seconds of silence.

"I think I'll call it something cool like... Um... Maybe Quick and Painless? No, too long... Um... Uhhhhhh... Crap, I can't think of anything. Oh, I know! I'm gonna call it Shine." decided Lizzy.

As Jeff was inputting the name in the little bar above where the weapon was placed, Norman suddenly realized something.

"Jeff, how are you repairing the sickle if you only have one?" he inquired.

Jeff gave a little shrug.

"Well, I was wondering that up until I put it down. Apparently, I don't need to put in another sickle to repair it. I'm thinking that these special weapons were designed to be repaired without a counterpart so that the important scientists who obtained them would be able to preserve it for a much longer period. Or at least that's my guess." said Jeff as he finished repairing the diamond sickle now named Shine.

Lizzy took back Shine and held it in her hands. Norman agreed that Shine was the perfect name for the diamond sickle, because it gleamed with a sleek and glossy surface when even the dimmest amounts of light reflected off of it. Lizzy looked close and saw that the name was even printed in fancy lettering in the blade. Norman stepped up and held out his diamond shovel. Jeff took it and raised an eyebrow.

"Your favorite weapon is a diamond shovel? Ah never mind, I'm not gonna argue. When I was in my second year at Diamond University I became friends with this guy who is now named Kent Ice, and his favorite weapon of choice was actually a different mod; a diamond fishing pole. So if you ever get teased about having a diamond shovel as your weapon, just remember old Kent and his fishing pole." suggested Jeff.

As Jeff was putting down Norman's diamond shovel with a spare one from the chest behind him, he asked the same question as he asked Lizzy.

"Do you want to name this shovel? I can do that if you want, so name it anything you want." he offered.

Norman thought hard about that. Whatever he named it would be what he would stick with until he no longer had it in his hands, so he needed to think of something he would want to keep. After thinking long and hard about how he would name a shovel, he decided on something.

"I'm going to call it Shatter, because any future enemies I face will be shattered by its heavy blows." Norman declared in a both heroic and dorky way.

Jeff grinned a little and repaired the diamond shovel until it was good as new. Norman held Shatter in hands and had a sudden urge to beat up a Creeper with it. Norman and Lizzy didn't feel the need to name their armor, so Jeff ran through both sets quickly and still had enough to spare for himself. After Jeff finished his repair on his iron helmet, Norman remembered the reason they had come to his house in the first place.

"Uh, Jeff?" Jeff grunted to show he was listening. "Can we ask one more favor of you?"

Jeff snapped his fingers and leaned back on his severely damaged anvil.

"Shoot." he said, holding up a finger and pointing at them.

"Can we get a few saplings so that we can make some wooden planks? Lizzy and I are making a bakery so we can get started on our new lives."

Jeff immediately stepped towards his chest and pulled out three birch saplings, a diamond hoe, twenty blocks of dirt, and an entire full stack of bonemeal. He also gave them both a bed so that they could sleep at night. They had everything they needed to get some wooden planks for the bakery. As soon as they had received their supplies, Norman and Lizzy thanked Jeff greatly for his generosity and left the house. It was around lunchtime, and both Norman and Lizzy were hungry by the time they had reached their little cave in the side of the mountain.

Norman knew that the mycelium ground would overpower the normal dirt unless it was turned into farmland, so Norman made quick work of planting the trees and giving them bonemeal, then planting more and giving those bonemeal. After about five minutes of planting and feeding the saplings bonemeal and chopping down trees, Norman had obtained two stacks of birch wood, which they converted into exactly 512 birch wood planks. After replacing their mycelium cave walls, floor, and ceiling with birch wood planks, Norman and Lizzy fixed up the inside by making a wooden counter accessible through a fence gate. Lizzy made a crafting table behind the wooden counter and made two entrance doors separated by wooden columns.

Lizzy looked around at their dark room and realized that they needed some light. Norman solved this problem and took a wooden pickaxe. He created a backroom behind the wooden counter and created their own little mine. He mined out some cobblestone for furnaces and found a stack of ten coal, which he made torches out of. After placing some torches in the corners of the room, the whole place was lit with a warm orange light.

Norman and Lizzy stepped outside to admire their little room in the side of the mountain, which didn't look half bad. As a finishing touch, Lizzy crafted a sign and placed it on the wooden planks separating the two entrance doors. On the sign she wrote _Fizzy Lizzy's Bakery_. As she stepped back and admired her sign, Norman looked at it and grumbled.

"Lizzy, I'm not sure that everyone will enjoy your nickname." he muttered.

But Lizzy kept the sign like that anyway. Norman hadn't had any lunch, and by the time they were finished with the bakery, the sun was beginning to set and it was time for dinner. Thankfully, they got nearly twenty apples from all the decaying leaves that had come off the trees, so they were able to keep their hunger bars full without having just dessert. Norman didn't really like having to fill up on only apples, so he asked Lizzy to try and conjure up a cake for the first time.

Once night had fallen and the air began to grow cold, Norman and Lizzy headed back inside and put up a torch above each door so that there was no cold or darkness whatsoever. Lizzy looked at the countertop in front of her, trying to figure out how to make a cake appear. Norman was watching her the whole time, and he was surprised when he saw a perfect cake appear on the counter where Lizzy had tried to conjure one. Lizzy was just as surprised at herself, and she experimentally conjured another cake beside the first.

"Hey, this is actually really easy! All I do is thrust my hand at the surface of a block and a cake appears! Let me try and make it disappear now by doing the opposite."

Lizzy pulled her hand away from the second cake, which disappeared without a trace. She did the same thing to the first cake, and she was nearly bouncing off the walls with excitement.

"Cool! Norman, try to conjure up a cobweb!" she insisted.

Norman tried the same method of jabbing his hand at the surface of the wooden planks, and the one in his direct view was topped by a cobweb. Norman made it disappear just as easily, and he smiled a little. He knew how to use his powers, but he still didn't know what purpose they would serve.

That night Norman and Lizzy created a third room in which they placed both their beds and three furnaces. They also put up a torch in each corner of the room to provide some warmth. Norman slept much better that night now that he knew they would be okay once customers started coming in. If only it was that easy...

**Hooray! Their first day on their own and the two have built a bakery (with some help from Jeff, of course), AND they discovered how to use their powers! Will customers actually buy from them or will they become desperately poor? When will Norman figure out what to do with his useless powers? And what's that last sentence there mean with "If only it was that easy..."? Find out next chapter in THE GLITCH!**

**Ok, good! Hold still while I count those who want the pastries.**


	10. Chapter 10: The Space Between Dimensions

**Hello, this is Pastrinator64 with another chapter from THE GLITCH. Last time on THE GLITCH we watched as Norman and Lizzy began their new lives. With some help from Jeff they created a bakery in just one day, and now they've got food, shelter, and warmth to comfort them. But now we zoom in on the rulers of the Minecraft Dimension once again, seeing their business going about the world.**

**Now, let the story commence!**

_Chapter 10: The Spaces between Dimensions_

Herobrine didn't really feel so good at the moment.

Something was making him have intolerable headaches, and while he was lying in bed he wondered what Notch and Queen Enderdragon were doing. He felt weak and utterly useless lying there in bed. Although he was is agony, that didn't stop him from moving around.

Feeling he should find a way to relieve his headache, Herobrine rang the note block beside him three times, and a zombie pigman entered. He bowed when near his master and said,

"What can I get for you, Lord Herobrine?"

"Carl, take me to the Magma Springs, maybe there someone can give me some kind of brain massage to relieve my headache." muttered Herobrine.

Carl bowed again and helped Herobrine out of bed. Moving made his head surge with pain, but Herobrine tried his best to ignore it. He hobbled with the help of Carl into the back room behind his throne. There sat a giant pool of bubbling lava that stretched forty blocks away. This was where all injured mobs—and Herobrine when he was feeling sick—would heal. To Herobrine and mobs in the Nether, lava didn't feel burning hot and scorching, but instead set at a comfortable feeling of warmth, more like a hot tub.

Herobrine said hello to about twelve different mobs before he even stepped in, but once he had lowered all but his head into the lava he felt relaxed. There was only way to cure headaches, and that was a magma cube's duty. Herobrine hit another note block on the edge of the Magma Springs and a small magma cube hopped forward.

"What can I do for you, Lord Herobrine?"

Herobrine had only had this bad of a headache once before, and the magma cubes had to do something he still disliked. They had to enter his brain and find the source of his headache as they were the most flexible.

"I need you to find the source of this damn headache. If I don't get rid of it fast I'll never be able to rule my empire properly again." cursed Herobrine.

"Yes, Lord Herobrine. I will try and make this feel as natural as possible."

The little magma cube hopped closer towards Herobrine and squeezed quickly into his ear. Herobrine realized at that moment why he hated it the last time this happened, because he felt as though a big slug was crawling inside his head. Inside, the magma cube didn't really mind going through Herobrine's head, and in a quick instant he was pushed up against his brain—which on a humorous note was cubical in Minecraft.

The little magma cube squeezed itself inside Herobrine's brain (really weird) and only had about two centimeters of elbow room. Unfortunately, the magma cube was startled so badly by what he found that he immediately despawned from shock.

Outside, Herobrine was wondering what was taking the little magma cube such a long time, and suddenly he was responded to with a buzzing sensation in his ear. Herobrine tipped his head and bonked the other side, trying to get whatever that buzzing thing was out. For a moment he thought that the little magma cube was coming out with something vibrating, but when he slapped the side of his head once more, he saw one little reddish ball fall out into the lava.

It popped up only for a moment after starting on fire, but Herobrine saw exactly what it was. It was a ball of magma cream.

* * *

Notch found himself thinking hard once again. He had finished crafting his newest creation. He had created magnets and a redstone-activated magnet block. He could not introduce this new factor to the entire Minecraft Dimension; only Norman could know. Notch quickly conducted a test up in his study. He placed a lever and a line of redstone wires connected to the magnet block. When the lever was in the OFF position, the large magnets printed into the faces of the block remained blue. Notch placed a block of iron—which was one of the only blocks affected by the magnet block (iron blocks, gold blocks, lapis lazuli blocks, emerald blocks, diamond blocks, redstone blocks, all types of anvils, beacons, iron bars, all rails, both piston types, iron doors, dispensers, hoppers, droppers, both types of weighted pressure plates, all types of minecarts, and other magnet blocks (28 total))—in front of the magnet block and instantly it was pushed away until it was out of the magnet block's range at ten blocks.

Notch flipped the switch into the ON position and the magnets turned red. The block of iron was then pulled back towards the magnet block until they were touching. Notch nodded and destroyed all the blocks to clear his study.

He then tested the magnet item. He held it in his hand and quickly spawned a chicken in front of him. Before the chicken could run away, Notch jerked the magnet a little towards the chicken and it flew towards him. He then jerked it just as the chicken was merely a half a block from his position, and this time it was sent hurling at the wall. Notch stopped the chicken in midair and let it flutter back onto the ground.

After putting away everything he had except for a magnet and a magnet block, Notch made his way down the spiraling staircase leading to his throne room. He had a few more things to do before he went to visit Norman to give him the magnet and the magnet block. Once reaching his throne room, he stepped once again into the room behind his throne where the three portals stood. This time, Notch stepped up towards the End portal. He stepped downwards into the dark and smoky substance, and immediately flew through the other end. He was airborne for only a moment before his feet hit the ground. It was not a particularly soft landing; the obsidian platform was relatively rough.

Notch walked down the winding landscapes of the End until he reached the edge of the gargantuan floating island. On his way there, he shook hands with many Endermen, who relatively respected him because he was on good terms with Queen Enderdragon. Notch fell down a giant ledge and landed on a floating island branching off from the main one without getting hurt. Queen Enderdragon lived mainly in a giant cave deep inside the End's giant floating island. Once Notch was near the bottom, he walked forward until he had reached the stairs leading into her cave.

Notch entered the giant island and walked down a small hallway until he reached a giant cave in the heart of the end stone mass. Inside he saw Queen Enderdragon lying down in the center with a Ghast hovering slightly behind her. Apparently, Herobrine had convinced the Queen to let his Ghast relax her muscles, because the Ghast was giving her a pedicure.

Notch walked slowly until he was near the Queen, who was doing her best to stay still while the Ghast massaged her claws. When she looked over and saw Notch coming, she said,

"Oh! Hello Notch, I've been expecting you. Mmmhmm, Ghast dear, I've had enough."

The Ghast made a random mewling noise and flew out the hallway that Notch had entered in. Once Notch and Queen Enderdragon were alone, the Queen straightened herself and turned back to Notch.

"Alright, I'm ready to enter The Void when you are. I believe you said we needed to check on the Secret Stash?" asked the Queen.

Notch nodded calmly and replied,

"We must bring the Secret Stash to my palace in the Aether and unload it to see what we have to use. We must be ready if the Glitch is ready to fully awaken once again. Alright then, if you're ready then let's travel down into The Void; it's the only way to access the spaces in between dimensions."

Notch and Queen Enderdragon exited the room—Notch went back through the hallway and the Queen just flew magically through the end stone. Once outside, Notch had to hop onto Queen Enderdragon's back. This Void was different from the one in the Aether and the Overworld, and he needed the protection of the Queen to go through it. Once Notch was secured on her back, Queen Enderdragon flew straight down into the infinite darkness of The Void. Notch felt the air around him turn cold as dead space and soon they were diving down deeper. After a long period of flying, the Queen slowed down and landed in the pitch-black area, the floor invisible. Notch climbed off the Queen's back and turned his head to look around.

"The spaces between dimensions will not open until I give the command." said Queen Enderdragon.

The Queen straightened up and let out a deafening roar that was soon lost in the darkness. Notch felt the air vibrating violently as the invisible entrance to the spaces between dimensions appeared. Suddenly, a bright light appeared and cast away the darkness of The Void. There floating in the empty space was a white vortex, which looked out of place in the darkness.

Notch entered the vortex and was transported into a vast white room where the lighting was still quite dim. Queen Enderdragon could only fit her head through the vortex's hole, and she watched as Notch crossed to the end of the room. Placed on every block making up the walls were item frames, and as a total there could have been at least 1,000 of them. These were the Mod Capsules. Every item frame held a mod item or block. Notch didn't have time to look at everything; he skipped the food, the materials, and the new blocks to move onto the mod weapons.

Using his powers over the properties of all in the Minecraft Dimension, Notch conjured a slip of paper in his hand and wrote down every single mod weapon being preserved in the Mod Capsules. The list was so large he needed ten slips of paper to write them all down...

_1. Air Gun_

_2. Atom Bomb_

_3. Bat_

_4. Battle Axe_

_5. BB Gun_

_6. Boomerang_

_7. Bowling Ball_

_8. Brass Knuckles_

_9. Cannon_

_10. Catapult_

_11. Club_

_12. Crossbow_

_13. Dynamite_

_14. Flail_

_15. Flamethrower_

_16. Gatling Gun_

_17. Grenade Launcher_

_18. Gun_

_19. Halberd_

_20. Harpoon_

_21. Hatchet_

_22. Javelin_

_23. Knife_

_24. Landmine_

_25. Longsword_

_26. Mace_

_27. Machete_

_28. Musket_

_29. Numchucks_

_30. Pepper Spray_

_31. Quarterstaff_

_32. Revolver_

_33. Rocket Launcher_

_34. Saber_

_35. Sickle_

_36. Slingshot_

_37. Spear_

_38. Stun Gun_

_39. Tear Gas_

_40. Trident_

_41. Uzi_

_42. Whip_

Once completing this list, Notch moved onto the mod mobs. There weren't as many, but his list was still relatively long.

_1. Bear_

_2. Bee_

_3. Boa Constrictor_

_4. Crab_

_5. Eagle_

_6. Fox_

_7. Jaguar_

_8. Killer Whale_

_9. Lion_

_10. Musk Ox_

_11. Skunk_

_12. Snake_

_13. Tiger_

_14. Vulture_

_15. Warthog_

Notch thought to himself /give Herobrine Mod Capsule lists and /give Queen Enderdragon Mod Capsule lists, and his two lists were duplicated and sent to his fellow rulers through the command. The Queen dropped the lists in front of her and read both. After finishing, she took them back and looked up at Notch, who was now facing towards her.

"These are all the mods we must rely on when the time comes?" asked the Queen.

Notch nodded and looked back at the walls of Mod Capsules.

"If things become worse, these Mod Capsules must be opened once again. It has been 400 years since we had to do this, and I'm not sure we can open them up unless we somehow gain more powers. So at the moment, we must wait for the situation to worsen before we decide what to do about the Glitch. Now then, now that I have sent these lists to Herobrine as well, I believe we can head back into the End. Shall we leave?" said Notch.

The Queen nodded and pulled her head out of the white vortex. Notch took one last look at the Mod Capsules before exiting the room. He was back inside the spaces between dimensions. As Notch was climbing up onto the Queen's back, he suddenly realized something.

"Queen, where is Herobrine? Shouldn't he have met with us?" he asked.

Queen Enderdragon zoomed high up and they entered The Void once more.

"I asked him to come and see the Mod Capsules, but he said he didn't feel all too well, so he stayed in the Nether." she answered, sounding confused herself.

Once Notch and Queen Enderdragon had exited the depths of The Void, the Queen flew down onto the surface of the island near the End portal. Notch hopped back down to the ground and bid the Queen goodbye. Notch stepped up onto the frame of the portal and stepped down inside where he was instantly hurled back out the other end. He landed a bit easier this time, and when he stepped out of the portal room to sit down in his throne, he saw his servant Mel the pig scurrying up to him.

Notch bent down on his knee and spoke with Mel, who looked like he was scared out of his wits.

"Mel, what's going on?"

The pig jumped up and down and jerked his head in the direction he had come from, all the while squealing wildly. Notch looked down the hallway and saw that more people were running his way. It was his right hand man Steve followed by the rest of the Mojang crew; Jeb, Kappische, Junkboy, and others.

All of them were sprinting, and by the time they reached Notch they were all trying to catch their breath. Notch grabbed the shoulder of Steve and said,

"What is happening out there?! I need to know!"

Steve looked up at him and Notch saw panic in his eyes.

"It's the Glitch! It's attacking the castle!" he exclaimed in between breaths.

Notch looked up and stared off into the distance, processing the situation. He knew it wouldn't work, but in his mind he though _/kill Glitch_. As soon as he thought the command, words appeared in place of the ones before that read: _You do not have permission to use this command_. The Glitch was powerful enough to overcome even _/kill_ commands, and that was just about the most powerful weapon Notch owned. But Notch had barely any time to think about the epidemic, because at that moment a terribly loud explosion occurred and the hallway before him shattered to pieces. It was time to act.

**That was a LOT of mods! But on another note, oh Poptart! How did the Glitch manage to start an attack on the Aether Palace all the way from its own prison? Will the Glitch manage to escape quicker than should be possible? Find out next chapter in THE GLITCH!**

**Let's see, that's one, two, three...**


	11. Chapter 11: Survival of the Fittest

**Hello, this is Pastrinator64 with another chapter from THE GLITCH. First off, I would like to thank all of my faithful viewers for sticking with me, because today I reached over 1,000 views (my story is relatively new, so that's kind of important to me).**

**Anyway, last time on THE GLITCH we watched as Norman and Lizzy began their new life on the Mushroom Island. They built a successful bakery and were already on their way to success. Although, now that night has fallen we watch as Norman and Lizzy awake to a not-so-happy life.**

**Now, let the story commence!**

_Chapter 11: Survival of the Fittest_

Norman awoke to the sounds of a shriek. Norman jumped out of bed and whipped out Shatter to see that Lizzy was being attacked by a zombie. He smashed the face of the zombie a couple times with Shatter and it fell to ground, crumbling into smoke. It left behind a piece of rotten flesh, which Norman hastily picked up. Lizzy was backed up against the wall where the zombie had cornered her, and she looked like she was about to cry. She looked over at Norman after a few seconds and wiped the forming tears in her eyes, slightly embarrassed.

"Um, thanks." she murmured.

Norman suddenly heard another scream. He heard more and more, and all of them were coming from outside. Norman and Lizzy hadn't installed windows to their bakery, so Norman punched a hole in the side of their room until he could see through to the outside. He couldn't see very much, and immediately a skeleton looked through a hole and shot at him. Thankfully, Norman jerked his head back and instead the arrow lodged itself in the wall behind him.

Norman couldn't reach the skeleton to kill it from where he was, so he ran past the hole towards the door to their room. Before exiting into the main area of the bakery, he looked back at Lizzy, who was still standing there. He pointed at the chest they shared beside her bed and said,

"Lizzy, grab Shine and follow me. We need to see what's going on outside. Oh! We should probably get our armor on too."

Norman and Lizzy equipped their sets of unused diamond armor and held their weapons tight. Norman walked slowly towards the door again and looked through it. He didn't see any mobs, but as soon as he and Lizzy had entered the main room, they heard a banging noise. The two entrance doors were being broken down by about ten or so zombies.

Norman ran up to the doors and jabbed at the zombies through the door, but he was only able to damage a few before both doors broke open sending zombies streaming inside. Norman and Lizzy had to work together to beat all ten zombies at once, and after about three whole minutes of brawling they had killed every zombie. But sadly they could not save the cakes from being eaten.

Norman stood there, panting and catching his breath. Lizzy was doing the same, but when Norman looked over at her she was grinning.

"That was awesome! We should do that again!" she declared, thrusting Shine the diamond sickle into the air.

Norman rolled his eyes and headed towards the open spaces where the doors used to be. Norman sneaked outside as slow as possible, but he stood back up when he saw the mayhem that was taking place. The entire town was being overthrown by an army of hostile mobs. Norman saw groups of zombies breaking into houses and looting them, he saw Creepers blowing up everything nice and orderly within sight, and when he looked far up into the mountains where the town ended, he saw lines of skeletons shooting volleys of arrows at random into the city streets. It was pure chaos, and Norman knew that it was the work of the Glitch. Mobs weren't supposed to group together and form armies much less work together!

As Norman looked around at the scene before him, he muttered only two words.

"Oh, Notch..."

Lizzy snapped him back into focus by grabbing his arm and pulling him back towards their looted bakery. When Norman was pulled back into their bedrooms, he jerked his arm out of Lizzy's grip.

"What are we going to do?! How is it that the city is being attacked if we're located in the middle of the ocean nowhere even remotely located to other islands?! And of all the civilizations this army could pick to attack they choose this one?! Why?!" sputtered Norman, all his thoughts spilling out at once.

Lizzy shook her head and began to look even more frantic.

"I don't know! I say we just put all our things in our inventory and make a boat for each of us. We're gonna have to leave the island if we want to stay alive!" she suggested.

Norman agreed with her and punched away his bed, which he put in his inventory. Lizzy did the same and also took back the empty chest. Once they had their few supplies put away, Norman looked over to see Lizzy starting to break up the birch wood planks using a stone axe. Norman stopped her and said,

"Lizzy, forget about the bakery! We just need to leave!"

Norman and Lizzy headed back out of their bakery and saw that zombies had somehow all gotten a flint and steel, because they were setting whatever was left of the houses and buildings on fire. Norman looked to his left to see that only about thirty residents of the town had escaped and that they were zooming across the water in boats. Norman and Lizzy zoomed down the landscape of mycelium, and as they got closer to the water they noticed that at least ten people had been shot down by skeletons, their bodies pierced with arrows and sinking into the water.

Norman didn't have time to feel sickened or sad, because he looked back and caught a glimpse of four Endermen running towards them in long strides with their mouths agape. Norman quickly turned around and began to sprint in order to stay safe. Once he and Lizzy reached the shore of the Mushroom Island they both placed their boats and jumped inside. They were able to start zooming through the water just as the Endermen had caught up. As he was speeding towards the crowd of boats holding the twenty other survivors, Norman looked back to see that groups of all different hostile mobs were gathering at the edge of the shore.

Endermen were waving their arms angrily along with the zombies, and skeletons were still trying—and failing—to shoot at them, and the Creepers were hissing so loud that the sound echoed through the cold nighttime air. Norman almost did a double take when he noticed that a skeleton was looking directly at him. His stomach did a back flip when he realized that the mob was smiling at him. He shuddered for a moment before turning around. He was glad he had turned around in time, because he almost ran into the back of someone else's boat.

Norman only nudged the boat a little, and immediately he regretted his actions. The person in the boat he had bumped whirled around to glare at him. It was Danny Bedrock. Once realizing that he was bumped by Norman, Danny growled and made a nasty face.

"Hey! Noobman, I am so gonna kill you when we find shelter! You made a dumb move back there by embarassing me before the trials, and now you're gonna pay!"

Norman gripped tight onto his boat and tried to turn away when Danny began to slam his boat, trying to break it apart. Danny would have destroyed Norman's boat entirely if it wasn't for the person who shouted angrily at him. Norman looked up and saw that his friend Jeff Ironblock had backed up next to Danny.

"Hey you! What's your name, son?" asked Jeff.

Danny looked up instantly and pulled his hand back into his own boat. He looked over at Jeff's impatient expression and smirked.

"I'm Danny Bedrock. What do you want?" he said curtly.

Jeff put on a scowl and replied to his rude tone of voice.

"I want you to stop beating on Norman and focus on driving your own boat! Got it?" he demanded.

Danny snickered a bit as though Jeff's reaction was amusing.

"And why would I do that? You're that Jeff Ironblock guy, aren't you? Didn't you lose to a Creeper that one time? Sorry bub, but I'm a bedrock champion, so if you don't shove off right now you're gonna be spending a week trapped in a box of bedrock, so shut it." replied Danny.

Danny would have looked very intimidating if he had been paying attention a little more, because while he was talking he had smashed into the person in front of him and his boat was destroyed. The entire group had to stop for Danny so that he could hold his breath and find his boat at the bottom of the ocean. Norman found it very amusing to see Danny come gasping up for breath every time he didn't find it. While Danny had been wasting time, Mayor Mushroom—a short and plump man who always carried with him at least twenty porkchops—declared that they would set up camp by building a floating area out of whatever they could use.

Some survivor named Hilary Sponge had used his powers to build a tower of sponges from the bottom of the ocean—another thing about gaining block powers was that you could place and take away blocks from any distance—so that they could build a large platform of sponges to camp out on. Unfortunately, none of the survivors had the power of Dirt Block, Grass Block, or Farmland, so they weren't able to make a farm. Once everyone had broken their own boats and put them away, they all came onto the sponge island to rest. Norman took the liberty of finding out who all survived the overthrowing of the town. He figured that he would want to keep track of who survived on their whole trip, so he killed a nearby squid so that he could make a book and quill. He opened it up immediately and wrote...

_List of Survivors_

_1. Bailey Creeper (And Butterball)_

_2. Cherin Redstoneore_

_3. Danny Bedrock_

_4. Esmeralda Ironblock_

_5. Francis Goldblock_

_6. Hilary Sponge_

_7. Jeff Ironblock_

_8. Jonah (No Last Name)_

_9. Kelly Fern_

_10. Lizzy Cake_

_11. Mason Mushroom (The Mayor)_

_12. Norman Cobweb (Me)_

_13. Olivia Dandelion_

_14. Palma Sand_

_15. Quinn Dragonegg_

_16. Stephanie Flowerpot_

_17. Tammy Torch_

_18. Victor Enchantmenttable_

_19. Yesinia Air_

_20. Zeke Squid_

When Norman looked over his list, he decided that when someone was to die or leave the group he would cross their name off so that he kept track a little better. Norman realized that they had two Mobwhisperers in their group, so that was good news. Unfortunately, Norman also realized that Patrick was not among them, and he tried not to imagine what horrible things Patrick might have experienced. Norman turned around to see that Lizzy was trying to look over his shoulder.

"So, you're gonna keep track of everyone here? That's kinda weird, Norman." she muttered.

Norman was taken aback at this comment.

"I just... I don't know why I'm writing a list, I just feel like I should." he replied, his cheeks burning.

Lizzy shrugged and went off to talk to Jeff, who was standing with his wife and son near the edge of the floating sponge island. So much had happened in one day, and Norman was completely exhausted. The night had gone from his and Lizzy's bakery being ambushed to him living in a sponge-crafted refugee camp. Norman found that everyone was putting their beds on one end of the little sponge island. Norman did the same thing and flopped onto it instantly.

Norman might've fallen asleep immediately if it hadn't started snowing violently. That night was the longest and coldest he had ever experienced, and it was deadly as well. Norman awoke to a late morning to find that someone didn't make it through the bitterly cold night. It was Jonah.

Little Jonah froze to death very early in the morning because of how little body heat he could preserve. Jeff and Esmeralda had gone into a deep depression because of their loss, and Jeff would have drowned himself if it weren't for Kelly Fern, who fished him out every time.

Norman flipped open his book and quill to the list of names and crossed off Jonah's. He then said a prayer to not Notch, but God. His real life was still on Earth, so he hadn't decided to change his religion. He prayed that God would help Notch up in the Aether find a place for Jonah and that he would forever rest in peace. When he was finished, Norman put away his book and quill and stood over the edge of the sponge island and watched as the squid that Zeke had called up carried Jonah's small body away. In his head, Norman thought,

"I know I'm going to die on this long journey..."

Norman lived for weeks with his fellow survivors, and many events happened in that time. On the first day only about three hours after Jonah's body was sent away, an elder by the name of Tammy Torch—who was at the age of 79—also passed away but because of hunger. She hadn't been supplied with very much food before the attack as well as after. They only had one source of food on their sponge island, and that was Lizzy's cakes.

Norman hadn't been in the camp for even a day and already two of their group members hadn't made it. Norman spent his free time writing in a separate book and quill as a journal. Besides the first two deaths within the day, nothing else significant occurred, so that night Norman didn't have very much to write. He heard the mayor shouting something aloud, but he was too concentrated in his writing to hear correctly.

_Day 1: June 23rd, 2415_

_Today was my first day living on this sponge island. This morning my good friend Jeff Ironblock's son died of the cold, and not three hours later an elderly woman by the name of Tammy Torch died of hunger. I pray to both God and Notch that they find a place where they should belong; specifically the Aether._

_Food here is scarce, and unfortunately no one was able to save any during the attack. Lizzy is our only supplier of food, and though her infinite cakes are filling, the taste is beginning to become bland. If every day becomes like this one, I don't think that anyone will make it. We have to find other civilization if we want to live._

_~Norman Cobweb_

Norman shut his book and stored it in his inventory inside his Blockpack, which he had managed to spare from the previous events. He sat down on the soft sponge surface of the island. He looked up and realized that people were packing away their things and clearing the island of anything leftover blocks. Norman spotted Lizzy far away on the other side of the sponge island punching up her bed and putting it in her own inventory. Norman quickly stood up and ran over to where she stood.

"Lizzy, why is everyone packing up? Are we going somewhere?" he asked as he approached.

She glanced over at him for a few seconds before looking around their makeshift sponge island.

"Well, the mayor declared that we would be moving on and traveling to find actual land again. We can't just stay here and die, so the best thing the mayor could do was declare that we would only make an island to rest on at night if we didn't find land. I have a bad feeling that this is going to be one LONG road trip." she muttered, groaning at the idea of steering a boat for hours at a time.

Norman quickly hurried back to his spot where he had set up his own little area. He didn't want to be left behind, and he hurriedly stuffed everything he had into his inventory except for Shatter, which he held in his hands. After everyone on the sponge island had packed up their things—which wasn't much—they all placed their boats in the water and entered them. Hilary Sponge used his powers to remove the entire sponge island at once, leaving a big patch of randomly flowing water.

Once again they headed out for land. The entire day was spent traveling, and they only stopped to set up camp when the sun had dipped below the horizon. Every night Norman recorded in his journal, and for three full days there was nothing in his notes but bad news...

_Day 2: June 24th, 2415_

_Today was our second day of survival, and it was just as bad as yesterday. A middle aged woman by the name of Yesinia Air had gone crazy because of the events. She had previously lived as a pampered rich woman who worked for the mayor, and she wasn't able to get used to this sudden change. She drowned herself along with another poor victim who tried to stop her—Francis Goldblock._

_We've lost four people within two days, and I'm thinking that if this keeps up we'll all be dead within eight days. Lizzy has grown tired because of the amounts of cakes she has been producing, and if she dies too I'm not sure who I'm going to stick with. These events make me wish I was back in my real home on Earth. Part of me thinks that getting home is hopeless now, but the other half wants me to keep going. I'm not sure which to listen to._

_~Norman Cobweb_

* * *

_Day 3: June 25th, 2415_

_Thankfully, there weren't any deaths today, but still there were many victims of the sad and terrible events that had occurred. Several people have gone crazy, and Danny had to put them in lit prisons of bedrock to keep them from hurting others. The mayor hopes that these victims—who were Olivia Dandelion, Palma Sand, and Victor Enchantmenttable—would regain their minds soon. Mayor Mushroom had terrible thoughts himself, but he has been able to stay a strong leader throughout these events._

_I will say that I am surprised I have lasted these times. Several moments in this survival period I have felt like I was going crazy. I think I am starting to hallucinate, because for some reason I keep hearing voices in my head, just random little bits and pieces of words. I'm just going to say that I'm glad I've made it this far, and I thank both God and Notch for this._

_~Norman Cobweb_

* * *

_Day 4: June 26th, 2415_

_This morning the mayor hosted yet another funeral for the victims of the insanity. All three of them were overcome by their maddening feelings, and now there are only thirteen of us left. I'm so sure that I'm going to go crazy myself, and I don't look forward to that day. I think that our only hope was and still is finding land and fresh plants for food. If I have another slice of Lizzy's cake I'm going to throw up._

_The majority of these past four days have been spent traveling in boats. My arms and legs are numb and my butt is constantly falling asleep. I don't know what I wouldn't give for a few minutes of sprinting through the tall grass of some open plains. That sure would be much better than sitting in a boat._

_There has been only one good thing about this whole survival trip, and that's how I've changed my body. I've admitted before that I wasn't very fit like Lizzy, but after spending these few days roughing it out, I've found that I'm in a much better shape than I've ever been. I may not be perfect, but now I don't mind some physical exercise. I now realize that I shouldn't have ignored all of Lizzy's nagging comments about my physical shape, because if I had gotten in better shape before I'd be great right now. These skinny limbs of mine have gained a lot of muscle, so I'm proud of myself. Hopefully I can maintain this; otherwise it'll all be wasted._

_~Norman Cobweb_

Norman woke that next morning to someone screaming. Norman jumped out of his bed and looked around. The sun was just beginning to rise, and Norman looked all around to find the source of the scream. He looked far at the other side of the island to see that Cherin Redstoneore—a fourteen year old girl with long red hair—was hacking away at a spider with her stone sword. Norman began to sprint towards her to help. Unfortunately he did not get there before Danny did, and the great lug came down hard on the spider with his diamond sword.

Norman looked around to see that other people were waking up. Soon all of the survivors were crowding around Danny and praising him for his deed. All the while Cherin was blushing noticeably and constantly thanking Danny for what he did while Danny grinned smugly. Norman was quite annoyed with Danny for this, because he could have gotten all the attention if it weren't for him. The mayor got the attention of the entire group and made an announcement as he gripped the shoulder of Danny.

"Everyone, I believe we owe this brave hero something. Danny Bedrock, I declared you the lead fighter of this team and I give you nine diamonds for your gracious deed! Three cheers for Danny Bedrock!"

Everyone cheered for Danny as the mayor gave him nine free diamonds. Norman was sickened beyond comprehension at this sight, and he felt like exploding.

But Norman just calmed himself and walked away. He couldn't go back to bed, so he began to wonder what to do. Just then his thoughts were interrupted by the mayor's shouting. Norman whirled around to see him standing on a podium made of sponge—courtesy of Hilary.

"Everyone, I believe we all know just how that spider got here! All mobs—except for squids—need land to spawn on, and that can only mean one thing! There must be land somewhere nearby! I'm going to send out groups of three facing in every direction to find where this new land is! Now then, any volunteers?" he asked.

Many hands shot up at that moment; everyone wanted to find the new land. Norman felt butterflies form in his stomach. There was land nearby! Norman quickly packed up his stuff so that he was ready to leave—he knew he'd have to do it later anyways. Mayor Mushroom sent out the four search parties in those next few minutes. Within about three minutes the search group heading north came zooming back towards the island.

One of the members of the North search party—Zeke Squid—called to the mayor when he and his group came close.

"Mr. Mushroom, sir! There is an enourmous desert with an equally large jungle just under ninety blocks north from here! The reason we didn't see it is because we are just barely out of sight of it! We rode all the way to the shore and made a quick survey, and we found a desert temple far off in the distance in the desert and a jungle temple right on the border of the jungle! Those places are probably bursting with loot!" sputtered Zeke.

The mayor ordered everyone to get in their boats soon after hearing this, and within a minute the entire group of survivors caught sight of the new land. Norman had a good feeling fill his mind. They had found a home.

**Finally, they've found land! What exactly will happen to them now that they've found land? How will they handle fighting monsters after going over four days without any practice? And WHY is it that the mayor is such an idiot?! Find out next chapter in THE GLITCH!**

**Four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven...**


	12. Chapter 12: The Ambush

**Hello, this is Pastrinator64 with another chapter from THE GLITCH. Last time in THE GLITCH we found that Herobrine had suddenly gained a nasty headache. Whatever inside his head was startling enough to kill a little magma cube, and Herobrine couldn't understand what had gone wrong. At the same time, we saw that Notch and Queen Enderdragon had taken a trip without him down into The Void to visit the Secret Stash; a secret storing area for over 1,000 mods in capsules that had been used 400 years ago. Now we find Norman and his fellow survivors exploring their new land.**

**Now, let the story commence!**

_Chapter 12: The Ambush_

Norman followed the rest of his fellow survivors onto the giant land mass. To his left was an enourmous jungle that stretched past his length of view, and to his right was a long, winding desert with a desert temple far off in the distance. The mayor ran heftily up to the head of the group and made them all stop. He cleared his throat importantly and then declared,

"Fellow citizens of Smelttown, I have decided on a plan for our survival. We will walk the distance it takes to reach the desert temple out there and we will camp there. Now that we are out of the ocean we will have to protect the desert temple from hostile mobs. I would like Mr. Danny Bedrock to follow me, if possible."

The group walked down the blistering sand of the desert for only a little while. Norman was thankful for the fact that the distance between the water and the desert temple was short, because the desert proved itself blisteringly uncomfortable. The group of thirteen reached their destination soon after starting, and the mayor led everyone to a side entrance. The mayor had to punch away a block of sand in the way, but soon everyone had filed through the entrance into the room.

It was just as Norman thought. The room was small and square, and had a target of orange wool in the middle with a purple bull's-eye. There wasn't very much lighting in the room except for the light streaming through the hole in the top.

After taking a survey of his surroundings, the mayor turned towards the group and puffed out his chest.

"Ah, yes! Now that we have taken hold of this temple, I would suggest that everyone set up their things somewhere in the room. It might be a tight fit, but we'll manage. Now then, Danny Bedrock?" Danny approached the mayor with a stupid look on his face. "Yes, I would like you to follow me outside. You will be setting up barriers around this temple for me as you contain the strongest block in our group. Follow me..." he declared.

Norman felt a lot better when the mayor and Danny had left the temple. Norman set up his bed and chest next to Lizzy's spot so that they could talk without having to cross the room. As Lizzy was storing away her diamond armor in the chest that they were sharing, she looked over at Norman.

"Oh, I'm so glad that we have somewhere to live. I thought that if I didn't get some running space I'd go crazy. Do you think we'll find a village somewhere in this desert?" she asked.

Norman looked up when he realized he was being spoken to.

"I don't know..."

He really wasn't sure what to say. These past days haven't been very eventful, and Norman felt almost bored. He wished that he had a job to do; he felt like he needed a purpose. The mayor had been nice and once the bedrock walls had been built around the entire temple—complete with a ceiling—the group was allowed to come outside. Norman stepped outside and found that the changes in his surroundings were extremely diverse.

The blue sky had been replaced with a flat ceiling of bedrock, shutting out all outside light. Cherin Redstoneore had made a couple hundred redstone torches using their entire supply of wood—which a team of seven had gathered from the jungle—and placed them all along the flat surfaces of every block in the bedrock room. Even all these torches left the large enclosed room dimly lit. The mayor saw that this would be a problem for preventing the spawning of hostile mobs, so he was forced to have the roof removed. The redstone torches were all kept for extra light.

The building of the walls and the placing of the redstone torches took almost all day, and the sun was beginning to dip back down from the sky. Mayor Mushroom quickly gathered everyone around and the group fled to their desert temple home. As Norman tucked in for the night, he quickly wrote another entry into his journal.

_Day 5: June 27th, 2415_

_Today was our most successful day by far. There were no deaths today, and we've found land at last. We've landed on the border between a large jungle and a vast desert, and now we've taken refuge in a nearby desert temple. This place isn't exactly the biggest room, but at least it's a nice base._

_Mayor Mushroom is very conscious about the possibility of hostile mobs possessed by the Glitch spawning here and taking over our base. He had Danny put walls of bedrock fifty blocks high all around the desert temple we've taken so that only spiders could get in. He knew that if spiders did get over the walls, he'd close the hole in the top of our desert temple and seal the entrances so that the spiders couldn't get in. I'm not worried about the Glitch's work tonight._

_~Norman Cobweb_

Norman slept quite soundly that night; for about ten seconds. He was woken again by the sound of moaning. His first thought was that a zombie had gotten inside, and he sat up quickly in bed, brandishing Shatter. He looked around the dimly lit room and didn't see any zombies; there were only people sleeping in their beds.

Norman stood up and walked out of bed. He held Shatter tight, ready to strike whatever came near. He heard another moaning sound from behind him and he whirled around. Still there was no one there. He heard yet another moaning only it was followed by a loud and sudden grunt.

Norman felt pain burst into his back and he whirled around once again to see a tall figure with a golden sickle coming towards him. It was a mod monster; a mummy. The mummy was 2.45 blocks tall and had thick limbs wrapped in sandy bandages, and the only exposed flesh was the space near its eyes. It had glowing orange eyes that never blinked, and Norman found that the mummy's flesh was rotting and blackened.

Norman hacked at the mummy, which attacked slowly but heavily. He had taken four hearts of damage before he had reduced the mummy to smoke. In its place were two strings and a piece of rotten flesh. Norman just watched the items float just above the ground, bobbing slowly. Norman quickly ran to each person in their beds and woke everyone up. When he reached Lizzy, she looked up at him with hazy eyes and said,

"Merf... What now, Norman?"

Norman grabbed her arms and pulled her out of bed with all his might.

"Get up, I think we're being attacked." he muttered.

Lizzy immediately gained an alert look and brandished Shine in her hands. She was ready. Once everyone was up, the mayor came to the front of the room and said,

"Alright, alright, alright, alright! What's going on in here?"

Norman came up to him and pointed up towards the hole leading outside.

"Mayor Mushroom, I woke up a few minutes ago because I heard a sound, and when I got up to investigate I was attacked by a mod mob: a mummy! I think there might be more outside!" explained Norman.

The mayor put on a shiny white smile and shook his head.

"Ah, son... Mod mobs are real only in fairytales and legends. There is no way that a mummy could have just wandered in here and attacked you, and I'm sure that it was just your imagination."

Norman felt like he was being treated like a little kid, and he didn't like it at all.

"I'm really serious!" he declared, his fists balled up in anger. "A mummy attacked me with a golden sickle and—"

But Norman was interrupted by the mayor's roaring laugh. He once again shook his head and replied,

"So now there are golden sickles? Those too are only mod weapons from legends and myths! You must have had a nightmare, if anything. Now then, if everyone would just head back to bed, I'm sure there will be no more intrusions."

The mayor turned on his heel and headed for his own bed. Everyone else did the same, most people grumbling about Norman's antics. Norman and Lizzy were the only ones standing there, and Lizzy felt the need to stick with him. She looked at Norman with an annoyed expression and then pointed over her shoulder towards their great lump of a mayor.

"C'mon Norman, that guy's a phony anyways. I believe you 100%."

Norman managed a small smile and looked back as he was heading to his bed.

"Thanks. Well, we might as well get some sleep. Or try." he murmured.

Lizzy went to bed soon after, but Norman stayed crouched on his bed, waiting for another ambush. Norman was there for a long time, and soon he started to feel pain in his stomach. At first Norman thought that he was being attacked again, but he realized that he was taking damage from hunger. Norman panicked and looked through his chest. There was not a speck of food anywhere.

Norman looked around for anything that could satisfy his hunger, and he had to resort to eating the rotten flesh from the zombie. After finishing off the disgusting substance, Norman felt thankful because the piece of rotten flesh hadn't inflicted hunger poison on him. Norman had a feeling that he couldn't stay awake much longer and that rest was essential, so he forced himself to crawl into bed. His head had barely touched the pillow before he had fallen asleep.

* * *

Norman woke up for the second time not even a minute later. He heard another groaning noise. This time Norman jumped out of bed as fast as he could. He woke up everyone again, only this time he told them,

"Come outside! I think we're being surrounded by mummies!"

Norman still had to wake up the mayor, and when he did the mayor looked very grumpy towards him. He stood up out of bed and held his iron sword threateningly.

"What is the meaning of this? Didn't I already tell you that we're not being attacked?" he demanded.

Norman pointed towards the hole in the ceiling again, this time more firmly.

"I'm dead serious when I say that we're being attacked, sir! Come outside and look!" he exclaimed.

The mayor stood straight and shouldered his iron sword and huffed irritably.

"I think I will. If there isn't an army of mummies coming towards us when I look, you're getting thrown over that wall!" he muttered angrily.

The mayor strolled slowly and calmly out of a side entrance. Once he had exited the room, everyone watched the side entrance with baited breath. Suddenly, the mayor came rushing back in, his face pale.

"We're being attacked! Everyone grab your armor and weapons!" he exclaimed as he rushed past the group to unload his chest.

Norman groaned in his frustration and ran to his chest. As he was slapping on his diamond armor, he heard a giant uproar of groaning from outside. Danny had to seal up the entrances to their desert temple with bedrock so that the mummies couldn't get inside. The mayor may have been the biggest idiot in the world, but his courage made up for it. Mayor Mushroom soon had his enchanted iron armor on, and once he was ready, he marched right out the door with new confidence.

Norman was scared out of his wits, because this would be his first official battle. His feelings only worsened when he stepped outside and witnessed the scene before him.

About a hundred mummies all exactly alike were marching towards their desert temple from all directions, every one of them wielding gold sickles. Norman was confused and freaked out at the same time, and he wondered how they could've gotten past the bedrock walls. He supposed it might be the work of the Glitch, as that was the most logical explanation he could think of. Norman looked to his left at Mayor Mushroom, who stood bravely before the army of mummies. He stood silently listening to the deafening moans of the undead for a moment before thrusting his iron sword into the air.

"Alright, you mummies want a battle?! I'll give you a hell of a battle! CHARGE!" he exclaimed as he heftily ran at the army.

Norman thought it was a bit dorky, but he joined in with the rest of the battle cries of his companions. Norman felt a significant rush of adrenaline as he charged into the grumbling mummy army.

Norman smashed the first mummy he came to in the head with Shatter and it crumpled to the ground in smoke. He whirled around to hit another that had grazed his armor, and it backed up into another mummy, who accidently sliced the victim's head off. Norman felt a slash across his diamond leggings and crouched down to avoid an oncoming blade before swinging Shatter at the legs of the mummy behind him. Norman made a chancy decision and grabbed the attention of ten or so mummies. Once he was being chased, he ducked and snuck through the busy crowds of mummies unnoticed so that the mummies pursuing him became confused. Norman quickly made his way around the mummies and slammed one into another, sending them crashing onto the ground in a heap. The other mummies took a hint and turned around to attack him, but once the front mummies had tripped over the fallen ones that Norman had just hit, every one of them in the group fell in a tangled and angry heap.

Norman felt a hard knock on his helmet, and he was unexpectedly sent falling into the piled up mummies he had caused. Norman felt a jerk on Shatter and saw that two mummies had grasped the end of his precious diamond shovel. Norman's grip was slipping on Shatter and the mummies had almost loosened it from his grip. Norman switched to plan B and pushed forward towards the mummies, causing Shatter's diamond head to slam into both mummies.

Norman took this opportunity and snatched back Shatter from the two despawning mummies. He sprinted out of the scene of chaos and stood next to their desert temple to take in the rest of the battle. To his horror they were still terribly outnumbered, and it appeared that even though he and the rest of his colleagues had slain at least five mummies each, they were still hopelessly outnumbered. The mummies formed groups of four or five and each group took hold of a survivor. Norman's gut knotted up when he saw a group of mummies slicing open Zeke Squid's front side and all crowd around him like vultures, hungrily wolfing down his organs. This sight severely made Norman want to throw up, but another group of mummies from behind surrounded him and pushed him along.

All the zombies had gathered Norman and his companions up against the wall of the desert temple near the bedrock-sealed entrance. One of the mummies in front came up and walked over to Danny, who had given away his bedrock powers during battle after using them. The mummy got close in his face and made a low growl/hiss in its throat before speaking. Its voice sounded similar to that of bones rattling.

"Open thissssssss entrance before I sssssssslit the throatssssssss of all you survivorssssssss!" it demanded, sand leaking in streams from under the mummy's bandages.

Danny stood there for a moment, looking like he wanted to punch the mummy's face inside-out. After a few seconds of silence he grumbled angrily but still turned around to remove the bedrock. Once the entrances were opened, only two mummies could stand guard over each person to be able to all fit inside. The others formed a circle around the desert temple to prevent anyone from escaping.

Norman looked around to see if anyone else had gotten eaten alive. He took a count and was relieved to see that no one else had been sliced open and eaten by the mummies. The room was constantly filled with mumbling and moaning from the mummies, all of them muttering to each other in their own language. Suddenly, one mummy with a diamond sickle instead of a gold one shuffled slowly into the middle of the room. It backed up a little and focused on the purple wool marking the center of the room. Norman hoped that the mummy would fall into the trap where the loot was hidden underneath, but instead of breaking the block, the mummy scraped just the surface in the slightest way. The wool suddenly burst into flames, and the one flame appeared on the circle of orange wool around it, lighting up the entire room.

Suddenly a scream occurred right in Norman's ear. He gasped and covered it with his hand, then turned around quickly to see who had screamed. The girl who had been saved from the spider from before—Cherin Redstoneore—was being grabbed harshly by the mummies, who were moaning an eerie chant.

"Get your filthy hands off me! Ah! Hey! What are you... Help! Let me down!"

Cherin had been picked up and raised high by the drying and dry skeletal hands of the mummies. While she struggled to break free and drop back down, the mummies carried her inside the flaming ring and held her above the fire in the middle. Each of the mummies then carefully stepped back onto a separate piece of orange wool, right in the middle of the fires. While still holding the flailing and screaming Cherin in the air, they slowly lowered her into the flame.

Cherin was starting to cry now, but when she stood in the middle flame her tears were instantly evaporated. For a moment she looked confused, and the flame in the middle did not appear to hurt her. The ring of mummies began to sing while standing in their own flames. Their song was a dark and evil tune, with eerie words to go with...

_"The Glitch is a burden it makes us pay..._

_It keeps us prisoners we have to stay..._

_Sacrifice is its greatest desire..._

_So we must go into the ancient fire..."_

_"The Glitch finds pleasure in torturing souls..._

_Tormenting of evils untold..._

_It has no mercy or forgiveness..._

_That is why it is so relentless..."_

_"The Glitch will devour everything in cold..._

_It will kill the young and old..._

_Always loss and always death..._

_Now we take our very last breath..."_

Bloodcurdling screaming filled the air as the fire turned from orange to purple. Both Cherin and the mummies dissolved before their very eyes, turning to black and smoking ash. Norman felt more horrified by these events than he had ever been before. The chant and the dissolving of the bodies and the piercing screams ran through his mind, binding his brain in a tight and painful manner. He felt like the Glitch was beginning to take hold of him.

The mummy that had the diamond sickle came up to the fires and raised his weapon. Suddenly, every fire in the middle of the room extinguished with a swift hiss and the floor suddenly fell from underneath their feet. Norman shouted in surprise along with everyone else—except the mummies—as they plunged to their death.

But after only about six seconds of falling, Norman felt his feet hit solid ground, and when he looked far up he still could see the inside of the desert temple high above. When he looked back in front of him, his breath was instantly taken away. They were in a room crafted from pure gold.

**Oh Poptart! How did all those mummies appear and find them? What is actually in the room of gold? And WHY didn't that blob of a mayor listen to Norman after two warnings of an attack?! Find out next time in THE GLITCH!**

**...Twelve, aaaaaaand thirteen! There we go, you're all counted!**


	13. Chapter 13: The Golden Sphinx

**Hello, this is Pastrinator64 with another chapter from THE GLITCH. Last time on THE GLITCH we saw Norman and the gang take hold of a desert temple and make it their home. But, after being woken up twice by a dangerous mod mob-the mummy-the Mayor went outside to see that they were in fact being attacked by an army of mummies. They were outnumbered greatly and were taken hostages by the mummies, then brought back into the temple only to fall down into a mysteriuos room of gold minutes later. Now we see the group starting to converse with a strange and mysterious creature inside the gold room.**

**Now, let the story commence!**

_Chapter 13: The Golden Sphinx_

The room was full of gold. The floor was made of gold blocks, the walls and ceiling were too, and there were fountains made of gold blocks that held spraying liquid gold—which was a mod too. Norman even felt his eyes beginning to water because of how much light the gold reflected from the torches placed around the room. Norman put a hand to his eyes to shield some of the light away and noticed a giant golden replica of a bed. It had the same exact shape, only there were no details really because it was all gold.

Norman turned around to see how everyone else was reacting to this, and when he looked he saw that all of the mummies that had brought them there were on their knees in a bowing position. Norman turned around and was startled badly, because he met the giant white eyes of a monster.

"Hello, Norman Cobweb. I am so glad you could come." uttered the monster in a smooth female voice.

Norman could only hear garbled gibberish at the time because at the moment he was a little preoccupied with the glowing white eyes in front of him. Those eyes were bigger four times bigger than his head, so he was nervous to see what the rest of the body looked like. The monster spoke again, saying,

"Forgive me, am I too close? Here, let me back up a little."

The monster backed up about twenty blocks or so, and now Norman could see what it was. The monster was a giant sphinx glittering with golden fur. The sphinx was twelve blocks tall, ten blocks wide, and twenty blocks long if you don't count the tail, which was ten blocks long by itself. The head was gigantic as well, and Norman became quite uneasy when he noticed the large razor-sharp fangs and claws made of gold. The sphinx crawled smoothly and seamlessly back onto the giant gold bed. She looked at the group of survivors and studied them carefully. While she was doing this, the mummies who were bowing down to her had rushed over to cater her every need; sharpening her claws, putting new golden polish on her fur, etc.

The sphinx finally finished her inspection and began to search for someone specific.

"Which one of you is the leader here?" she asked.

Mayor Mushroom stepped towards the front of the group looking hesitant. He raised his hand very slightly and replied,

"I am..."

"And what is your name?"

The mayor swallowed exaggeratedly and said,

"My name is Mason Mushroom, but most people just call me Mayor Mushroom since... You know..."

The sphinx smiled a large toothy smile, showing off her glittering golden daggers.

"Allow me to introduce myself; I am Carnepodrida, but I am known in ancient legends as the Golden Sphinx."

Norman heard Danny grumble from behind him, and when he took a quick glance he saw him roll his eyes. Suddenly Carnepodrida looked in Danny's direction and said,

"What is this? Is there someone who doubts that I am real? Whoever you are, come here in front."

Danny instantly shut up, but it was too late. He walked through their crowd until he was standing in front. Trying to look confident he stood straight and puffed out his chest, but he still couldn't erase the scared look on his face. Carnepodrida's plain white eyes glowed brighter as she spoke to him.

"Do you believe I really exist? Am I a figment of your imagination? A hologram? A trick of the light? A group of people wearing a giant sphinx suit? Well?" she demanded, her voice turning from smooth to sour.

Danny was beginning to sweat profusely, and his arms were trembling. Norman was actually enjoying the moment of sweetness, and he found it amusing to see that Danny was afraid of something. Carnepodrida leapt off her gold bed and hurtled onto the ground, shaking the entire room. As she crept closer, it was quite clear that Danny was scared out of his wits. Once Carnepodrida had come close enough, she bent her head down and looked straight into Danny's eyes, which were widened in fear.

"Do you think I'm real? Be honest, now."

Danny stood there shaking and sweating like crazy. He was at least smart enough to say the right answer, and he took a deep breath before replying.

"Yes." he murmured.

Carnepodrida's glowing white eyes flashed with light and widened as she screamed,

"LIES!"

Carnepodrida jerked forward, snatched Danny's shivering body up into her jaws and swallowed him whole. Norman could've sworn his mouth had dropped down all the way to the ground at this sight. Carnepodrida licked her lips for a few seconds with everyone staring at her in horror, and then turned back to them.

"Now then, does anyone else want to doubt my existence?"

Everyone shook their heads no, all of them terrified too badly to speak. Carnepodrida stalked back to her giant gold bed and rested on it once more. Norman was still thinking about Danny being snapped up and eaten like that, and he felt his gut twist up even though he always despised him. Suddenly he felt a hot breath run through his hair, and when he looked up he was startled for the second time by the sudden appearance of Carnepodrida. (Boy, that thing moves FAST!) She was looking at him with a questioned face.

"You want to bring back this boy, don't you, Norman Cobweb?"

Norman suddenly realized that she had called him by name twice already. He looked up into her giant white eyes and suddenly felt a strange surge of hope.

"Y-yes, Carnepodrida." he uttered, barely audible.

Suddenly, Carnepodrida backed up and gave a great lurch. Danny was hurled out of her throat and landed in a sticky heap on the ground. Danny was so freaked out that he couldn't even stand, so as soon as he saw Carnepodrida standing over him, he rolled his way back into the crowd, whimpering quietly. Norman had a feeling that this time it might not be a good idea to laugh at Danny's humiliation, so he kept his attention focused on Carnepodrida.

The gold sphinx had crawled back into her giant gold bed yet another time, and she was waiting for Norman's complete attention.

"You ARE Norman Cobweb, correct?" she asked.

Norman didn't want to hesitate after seeing what had happened before, so he made an instant reply.

"Erm, yes, Carnepodrida."

"You were sent here from the 3rd Dimension on a planet named Earth because of the Glitch's plague?"

Norman answered the same way as before, not wanting to accidently do something wrong.

"Yes, Carnepodrida."

"And you were and are accompanied by a girl named Lizzy Cake? Lizzy, if you are here, please come forward."

Lizzy was shaking in the same way as Danny, and she held Shine in her hands cautiously, ready to strike anything causing sudden movements. She looked up at Carnepodrida and took a shaky breath.

"I... I am Lizzy, your majesty. I mean, Carnepodrida!" she sputtered nervously.

The gold sphinx paid no mind to her stuttering and continued with her questions.

"You two are few of the chosen heroes who were picked specifically by the Spirits In Between to come into our world and destroy the Glitch. You have been chosen as one of the two Ultra Heroes because you have proven to be strong, courageous, kindhearted, and sharp. These four traits would help you on your quest to defeat the Glitch and its ancient monsters. I have been told of the Divination of Dimensions—which is a great and powerful prophecy—which says that you must go and defeat the mob clans controlled by the Glitch and each clan's mutant." said Carnepodrida.

For a moment Norman thought that she was finished, but she only paused for a moment before continuing on.

"The mutants were created by the Glitch 400 years ago. The mutants were larger, fiercer, much more powerful forms of regular hostile mobs—and unfortunately such as Creepers, spiders, zombies, skeletons, etc. The Glitch did not invest in all hostile mobs, because being what it was it did not think that the minor mobs deserved mutants, and so it only created the clans and mutants for a few mobs. In order to weaken the Glitch, you must slay every one of the five mutants, for the Glitch had inserted much of its evil energy into the mutants to transform them and make them his sources of life. Without his mutants he would be extremely weak, and a lesser foe. This quest has been planned by the Spirits In Between—the ancient spirits that control all dimensions who had written the Divination of Dimensions—400 years ago after the Glitch had first appeared, and now it has to be fulfilled by the heroes of the prophecy. Do I make myself clear?" asked Carnepodrida.

Norman processed this story for a few moments and suddenly a question formed in his throat. He looked up at Carnepodrida and said,

"Wait, so how many mutants do I have to defeat?"

"The Glitch created and invested in five mutants altogether, and five you must slay before battling the Glitch. There are the four clans of the Overworld and the one of the Nether. Once your entire quest is over and you have defeated the mutants and their mob clans, the Glitch will be weakened enough for you to overpower and destroy it. There used to be seven mutants, but now the Enderdragon has become a queen/ruler of her dimension and the Wither was decided to be controlled by Herobrine. Those two were taken off the list because they had the powers to resist the Glitch's control as well. This is the only way, Norman Cobweb and Lizzy Cake, our two Ultra Heroes; the fate of all dimensions rests in your hands..." declared Carnepodrida.

Norman felt like someone had told him to carry a backpack containing twelve pianos up a mountain. Almost feeling faint, he looked over at Lizzy; she didn't look particularly thrilled either.

_"Five clans?"_ thought Norman. _"How the heck are we supposed to find all five clans before the Glitch swallows everything up? It's impossible..."_

As though she could read Norman's mind, Carnepodrida spoke up with an answer to his thought.

"It is not impossible, though you may think it. I bestow upon you the Golden Eye, which when looked through gives you location of the nearest clan. Killing the mutants is an important task not only because it weakens the Glitch in power, but because every mutant contains a Doorway Drop. The Doorway Drops are the keys that when brought together open the 400 year-old gates to the Glitch's magic prison, which is hidden in The Void, will open the magic bonds for you to enter safely. These Doorway Drops are rare and special items that contain special powers, although their powers are at a limited extent. Kill all the mutants and clans, collect all five Doorway Drops, find the greatest open space facing The Void—which is currently located in the End—and destroy the Glitch while it is still inside its prison. Again, do I make myself clear?" she inquired.

Norman thought about their situation for about ten seconds, but he didn't want to keep Carnepodrida waiting, so he answered soon after.

"Yes, Carnepodrida. But who will I take with me besides Lizzy?" he asked.

"It was written in the Divination of Dimensions that exactly two Great Heroes would still in their adolescence would accompany the two Ultra Heroes and go on this quest to defeat the Glitch and its mutants. To keep to the prophecy you shall choose two members from your group to accompany you on your journey, and I mean only two. This also means you cannot pick from anyone who is of eighteen years or older." she stated firmly.

Norman turned around to face the group. He ran through the list of survivors in his head—he had left it back in his chest. Instead of including the ones that were gone, he erased them from the list and renumbered the names.

_List of Survivors_

_1. Bailey Creeper (And Butterball)_

_2. Danny Bedrock_

_3. Esmeralda Ironblock_

_4. Hilary Sponge_

_5. Jeff Ironblock_

_6. Kelly Fern_

_7. Lizzy Cake_

_8. Mason Mushroom (Mayor)_

_9. Norman Cobweb (Me)_

_10. Quinn Dragonegg_

_11. Stephanie Flowerpot_

While he was running the list through his head, Carnepodrida spoke again.

"I would like your decision within the next minute, so please choose wisely."

Norman looked around at the group to see that everyone was looking pleadingly at him. He didn't want to leave people behind, but he had no choice but to do so. He pointed at Quinn and said,

"Quinn, you can come."

Quinn did a goofy fist pump and ran to Norman's side as soon as he heard his name. Norman had picked Quinn because of the fact that he had the power to control wild Enderdragons if he were to hatch them. That could be useful in battles. He looked around at his other choices, and noticed that everyone looked twice as nervous now. Quinn was behind him talking with Lizzy, and he seemed excited and relieved. Norman took another look around at the people before him and slowly pointed at Bailey. They would have two Mobwhisperers on their team.

Bailey realized that she was being pointed at when Norman said,

"Alright Bailey, you too."

Bailey smiled and sighed with relief, bending her head to let her flowing blonde hair hang down. She rushed over towards Norman, followed by her pet Creeper Butterball.

"Thanks." she said awkwardly, not exactly sure what to say.

As Bailey came up to the front to stand with her new friends, Butterball followed her and hissed in a friendly way. Norman quickly caught the attention of Jeff and Esmeralda and mouthed "sorry" before looking back up at Carnepodrida.

"I have chosen my two companions." he declared simply, not showing any sort of emotion.

Carnepodrida raised her head and looked straight at Butterball, who backed up a little and hissed a warning sound.

"I told you to only bring TWO other companions from the group, not three. Send the Creeper back." she demanded.

Butterball's black eyes widened in surprise as mummies came up and pushed him back towards the others. Bailey retaliated against the mummies and took them out with her diamond bow and arrows—Norman figured that diamond bows and diamond arrows were just another mod. Carnepodrida came forward to stop Bailey, and she exclaimed,

"Stupid girl, you shall not touch that Creeper! He is to stay with the others!"

Bailey held tight on Butterball and looked worriedly up at Carnepodrida, who was stalking towards her. Tiny angry red dots had appeared in Butterball's eyes and he began to hiss angrily, warning Carnepodrida again not to come close. Carnepodrida bent down and snapped up Butterball in her teeth, who struggled angrily. Before swallowing the Creeper, though, he swelled slightly and then exploded with great force, toppling Carnepodrida over onto her back. Norman looked over at Bailey's shocked face, and she had already started crying because of her immediate loss.

But when Norman looked at the ground, he saw that separated parts of Butterball were beginning to attach themselves until Butterball was standing unharmed but still angry. Bailey ran and grabbed Butterball again, pulling him away from Carnepodrida. Bailey suddenly jumped up onto Butterball's back and the Creeper hissed loudly before zooming forward on its four feet. Norman was about to make an escape himself, but he felt a hot breath down his back and he was unexpectedly lifted into the air. Carnepodrida was going to eat him.

**Oh, Poptart! THAT can't end well! How will Norman escape Carnepodrida's clutches? How will they escape the golden room? Will there be MORE mummies in their pursuit if they do escape? Find out next chapter in THE GLITCH!**

**Alright, everyone! Now that you're all counted, let's head on down to the bakery!**


	14. Chapter 14: Because of Greed

**Hello, this is Pastrinator64 with another chapter from THE GLITCH. Last time on THE GLITCH we saw Norman being talked to by Carnepodrida, the legendary Golden Sphinx. During that time, he found out about the Divination of Dimensions that he was the main hero of, and he was instructed of his entire quest by Carnepodrida. But once he picked his companions and Carnepodrida had rejected Butterball, things got a bit crazy and a battle began. Now we see Norman and his friends trying to escape the clutches of the fearsome Golden Sphinx.**

**Now, let the story commence!**

_Chapter 14: Because of Greed_

Norman didn't even have time to react when Carnepodrida's teeth opened back up. He slid down the slimy tongue and felt himself being submerged in a hot liquid; liquid gold. He couldn't breathe at all, and the giant throat opening above him had closed up, so he couldn't get out. Norman had gotten liquid gold in his eyes, mouth, and in his ears, and he couldn't think. His lungs began to burn along with his eyes, and he felt faint immediately. Doing the only thing he could, Norman took Shatter and slammed it against the stomach of Carnepodrida.

He felt a vibration in the liquid gold around him as Carnepodrida started mocking him. He could tell by the tone of voice, he just couldn't understand because of the liquid gold clogging his ears. He once again was aware that his chest was beginning to burn and weaken, and his thoughts became mess. Suddenly his head felt a burst of pain, and he realized that something had bumped him. He felt around and grabbed it, feeling the surface quickly.

Using his findings he realized that it was a basketball-sized cat-like eye with two sharp points on each end. This was probably the Golden Eye. He grasped the Golden Eye and held it towards the surface of the giant stomach. Without considering anything he jabbed it forward with all his might, and to his relief a large hole was ripped into the stomach and skin, and the liquid gold around him pushed him right out. He didn't even realize it, but the Golden Eye had accidently slipped out of his hands.

He was still blinded by the gold liquid that had gotten in his eyes, but he could hear Carnepodrida snarling and roaring in pain. Norman could've been facing the wrong way from the exit, but he didn't think about it and unsteadily got to his feet. He didn't have time to run before he felt something ram into his back. At first he thought that Carnepodrida had gotten him, but he flipped up from the force and landed on something papery. He also felt hair blowing in his face. He must've landed on the back of Butterball to ride with Bailey.

Bailey and Norman zoomed back down the golden room and Norman could feel them stop. He was taken off Butterball's back and set down against the wall. Norman could hear the quick steps of Bailey riding back towards Carnepodrida, and then he noticed that other sounds were filling the air. He could hear mummies moaning and grunting, the clanging of metal against metal, the whizzing of Bailey's diamond arrows, and Carnepodrida's angry snarls.

These sounds blasted through the room for about ten whole minutes, and Norman couldn't do anything but sit there and listen. Suddenly, Carnepodrida let out a painful groan and there was a great crash, which thankfully was the sound of her falling to the ground, defeated. Norman jumped a little when he felt another liquid being poured into his eyes. It stung a lot, but after only a few seconds the liquid gold was cleared from his eyes and he could see through a blurred vision.

Hilary Sponge was standing over him, soaking up water from a bucket—with a sponge, of course—and sprinkling it over Norman. Norman was about to ask questions, but Hilary squeezed more water into his eyes and they burned again, but this time he could see perfectly clear.

Carnepodrida's dead body was lying in a giant puddle of liquid gold about twenty blocks from his position, and thankfully there were no mummies even within sight. Liquid gold was flowing in large amounts from the hole in her stomach, and Norman noticed that something had fallen out. It was the Golden Eye he had found inside. Norman quickly stood up and ran past Hilary. At this point he didn't care about his shoes getting soaked, and he splashed his way up to the body. Norman slowed his walk as he approached the Golden Eye and then picked it up, holding it carefully in his hands.

The Golden Eye was a beautiful artifact, and it gleamed whenever he looked at it. Norman suddenly remembered what Carnepodrida had said about what the Golden Eye's purpose was, and he held it close to his face, looking straight into the gold colored pupil. He started to see an image, and when he looked closer he could see a map. It was a perfect map that showed the exact location of the Creeper Clan's hideout. Above it, there were words that read: _"Mutant 1: Mechacreeper"_.

Norman instantly recalled the names of the chapters from the Ancient Monsters of Minecraft book, realizing that the first chapter had shown the same words. At one point Quinn Dragonegg walked up to him and grinned widely.

"Thanks for cutting open that weirdo's stomach, that thing was so distracted we were able to take her down really... Oh, that's nasty."

Norman looked down to see that liquid gold had begun to flood the room, and already it was up to their ankles. Norman looked over at Carnepodrida's corpse, which strangely remained there and didn't despawn in smoke. The liquid gold that was her blood and stomach fluids were flowing out in fine streams, and there seemed to be no end. Norman knew they had to get out quick before they all were drowned.

Norman splashed his way back to the giant hole in the ceiling where they had first entered and looked straight up into the desert temple where all their stuff still floated, suspended in the air because of not being affected by physics. It did look a bit strange to see a bunch of floating beds and chests—and someone even had an unused jukebox up there.

Norman looked over to see many people staring at Carnepodrida's dead corpse that was spilling out liquid gold. He cupped his hands to his mouth and shouted at the top of his lungs to grab their attention.

"I DON'T CARE IF YOU DON'T TAKE ORDERS FROM PEOPLE SHORTER THAN YOU, EVERYONE JUST GET OVER HERE SO THAT WHEN THIS PLACE FILLS UP WE'LL BE ABLE TO FLOAT BACK UP AND OUT OF THIS ROOM!"

Everyone splashed as they tried to run towards Norman. The gold liquid had flooded to their knees now, making it hard to move quickly. Norman silently did a head count and he found that everyone was here with him, and that Lizzy, Bailey, and Quinn were behind and on either side of him. Norman did a quick scan of the room to make sure no one was left behind, and he stopped when he saw someone crouching down next to the corpse of Carnepodrida. It was the mayor. Norman shouted at him, saying,

"Mayor Mushroom! Get over here before this place fills up!"

Norman moved about two steps forward and saw that the mayor was filling up about twenty empty bottles with liquid gold. Norman couldn't believe it! He was staying behind just to earn some extra cash! The liquid gold had reach the height of most people's waists already, but the mayor kept on filling his bottles. Norman shouted at him again, but the mayor glared at him with a greedy glint in his eyes. He was being driven mad because of greed.

Norman shouted for the third time, but this time he said,

"Mayor Mushroom, if you don't get here now the place will fill up and you'll drown! Forget the gold and come over here now!"

The mayor not only ignored Norman, but he waved his hand swiftly in his direction. The mayor did something very strange and leaned to reach with his stubby little arms inside a major wound in Carnepodrida's chest, and when he came back out, he was holding a giant glowing chunk of something bright. It was oddly shaped, and apparently it was the heart of the sphinx, made out of pure gold. The mayor held it in his hands and smiled greedily at the gold heart, ignoring all of Norman's shouts.

Norman knew there was no way the mayor would make it now; the liquid gold was up to their chests—and for Lizzy, because of her height, it was up to her neck. Norman looked to see that the mayor had taken his own Blockpack off and he was putting the bottles and the gold heart in it. Norman shouted at him for the fourth time, and only this time did the mayor realize what was happening. As though he had snapped out of a coma, he looked up and around him, realizing that the place was flooding with liquid gold.

Mayor Mushroom was up to his neck in the liquid now, and he could barely even move the distance. Norman knew what was slowing him down so much, and he yelled,

"Mayor Mushroom! Empty your Blockpack, the gold in there is weighing you down! Carnepodrida made it that way so that thieves wouldn't escape with it!"

But the mayor shook his head and kept on trudging forward, not willing to let go of his precious items. Norman groaned in frustration at the act the mayor was putting on. He was going to die. The liquid gold had gone up past everyone's heads now, so most people were treading to stay afloat. The mayor tried to do this, but he kept having to bob up and down out of the liquid, because the magical gold he had stolen was weighing him down. Norman looked over to see that the mayor was struggling to bounce himself up as the level grew and they were already halfway to the ceiling height of the gold room. Norman looked back again at Mayor Mushroom, who had just gone under. He watched for a long time, but the mayor didn't come back up again. Another poor soul was lost, and this time it was their leader.

Norman wanted to be angry at Carnepodrida for enchanting the gold in the room, but he couldn't think at all; they had gone past the height of the room and now were floating up back to their desert temple refuge, which was high above. The liquid gold began to flood at a much quicker pace, and after about two minutes the gold overflowed through the whole and they were back in their room. Some people wanted to stay and rest, but unfortunately Carnepodrida had created one last attempt to kill thieves, because the liquid gold in the room began to swirl around until there was one big whirlpool to suck back victims.

Norman wasn't the strongest guy, but he took back his bed and chest around the edges of the whirlpool. Everyone else did the same and rushed out of the side entrances to avoid being sucked back down. Everyone gathered outside of the desert temple and looked to see that the whirlpool remained swirling. Once again, they were without shelter, and it was time to seek help.

Now everyone was just standing there wondering what they would do. Now there were only ten people left, their leader had drowned, and their only shelter had become useless. There was absolutely nowhere to turn. Norman was about to shout out to the rest of the group that they should find a village if there was one nearby, but the Danny pushed him back and stepped towards the front of the group acting like he was already the man in charge.

"Alright, everyone! It's time that we stopped taking orders from that blob of a mayor and listen to me! What we're gonna do is..."

Jeff had to step in at this point and stop Danny from talking.

"I'm sorry, Danny, but I believe that the eldest of our group should pick the leader that we follow. It's the choice that makes the most sense."

Jeff had made a very good point, and Danny looked deadly almost when he trudged back into the crowd while giving Jeff the evil eye. So Jeff took over and found out who the oldest person in the group was, which happened to be Kelly Fern. Norman wasn't exactly thrilled, but at least Danny wasn't the one to pick, otherwise they'd be taking orders from him. Being the oldest in the group at age 37, Kelly slowly stepped up to the front of the group. Jeff stood beside her and said,

"Alright Kelly, who is going to be the leader here? You can pick yourself, if you choose."

Kelly pursed her lips and looked around. She only had been surveying for about three seconds before her eyes fell on Norman and the Golden Eye. She must have realized that he was the main hero of the Divination of Dimensions, because she gestured towards him and declared,

"Well, Norman here is the main hero of the Divination of Dimensions, and whether you agree or not I believe that he is now our leader." she caught the nasty glare of Danny right away. "Sorry, Danny."

Kelly Fern stepped out of view and pushed Norman up front. Norman really hadn't expected this at all, and he almost dropped the Golden Eye because his palms were sweating. He had to admit he was nervous now. People just stared at him for about five seconds before Danny finally said,

"Fine then! Noobman, what do we do next?"

Norman looked once again into the pupil of the Golden Eye and received a glimpse of the Creeper Clan's location, which appeared to be in a quite normal stretch of plains with nothing significant but flowers along the ground. He quickly looked back up and said,

"Well, the Golden Eye can show me where we need to go to find each of the clans, and first up we have the Creeper Clan, which is located in some large stretch of plains with a stupid name; the Serpent's Eye. It looks like every time we search a location the Golden Eye acts as a compass and it points in the direction we have to go, so... Let's go?"

It was kind of lame to end off that way, but Norman wasn't really sure what to do at the moment, so he didn't feel he had himself to blame. Norman held the basketball-sized Golden Eye in front of him with both hands, and it suddenly started to glow. Slowly it turned until it was facing northeast past the bedrock wall to where they couldn't yet see. Thankfully, one of the two points that was used for the compass ability was longer than the other, so Norman knew whether to go forward or backward.

Norman had Danny—barely agreed to take his commands—destroy the bedrock wall around them so that they could see where the Golden Eye was pointing to. Danny had made it all disappear within a minute, and Norman groaned quietly when he saw that they had a ton of desert to travel across. The only difference—which Norman realized immediately—between the trip coming here and the trip they were going to take across the desert was the fact that now having enough water would be a problem. Norman suddenly resented Notch for adding thirst in the year 2366 for Minecraft beta 64.16. Either way, they had a long, hot and windy journey ahead of them.

**Man, it looks like Norman and company will be traveling for a long, LONG time. How will they make their way through the desert alive? Will they be confronted by more mummies? And why did Mayor Mushroom not listen to Norman's warning? Find out next chapter in THE GLITCH!**

***Pastrinator64 and all his pastry-lovin' friends follow him out the door and onto the street***


	15. Chapter 15: Stocking Up

**Hello, this is Pastrinator64 with another chapter from THE GLITCH. Last time on THE GLITCH we witnessed a battle between Norman and the gang and Carnepodrida. Norman was eaten but survived bye piercing through her stomach with the Golden Eye. As a last minute attempt to kill them the room flooded up with gold, and everyone except the mayor escaped with their lives. The mayor had been DRIVEN MAD BY GREED. After being appointed the leader of the group, Norman began to wonder whether he could keep everyone from danger. Now we see Norman and company stocking up on the supplies they'll need for the trip (and knowledge for Norman's mind).**

**Now, let the story commence!**

_Chapter 15: Stocking Up on Supplies (And Knowledge)_

Norman decided that they should set up camp there for the rest of the night and for the coming day so that they could prepare for their long journey to defeat the sixteen mutants and their clans. That night he added a new entry into his journal.

_Day 6: June 28th, 2415_

_Today wasn't exactly the best day of our lives, but some unknown decisions were made, so that's good. Early this morning I was attacked by a mummy and woken up twice, and when the mayor went out to investigate it turned out that an army of mummies were attacking. Zeke Squid was gutted open by their sickles and when we were taken as hostages Cherin Redstone was burned to death as a sacrifice._

_We ended up with the mummies in a room of gold and we met this solid-gold sphinx named Carnepodrida—which if I remember correctly from Spanish class means "rotten flesh"—who told me about my entire quest. I have to travel around the world of Minecraft and slay five clans of glitched mobs and their mutants, which are giant forms of regular mobs. But afterwards she actually attacked us when I took Butterball as a companion, and I got eaten. I had to pierce her stomach with the Golden Eye, which is this thing that'll let me see where to go next. She tried drowning us in liquid gold, and everyone escaped except Mayor Mushroom. This is definitely NOT going to be easy, that's for sure. I just hope everyone survives the rest of the trip._

_Finally, I have been appointed as the leader of the group now because I am the hero of the Divination of Dimensions—which is this ancient prophecy, or something along those lines—written by these guys named the Spirits in Between, I don't know. Now if I make a mistake everyone else will suffer, so the pressure is REALLY high right now. I'm not sure whether I'll be able to handle this leadership now that the mayor was drowned in liquid gold. Poor Mason..._

_~Norman Cobweb_

* * *

In the morning he made a list to keep track of what they needed...

_Supplies List_

_1. Two full stacks of wooden planks - any type (128)_

_2. Two full stacks of any of the possible: cooked chicken, steak, or porkchop (128)_

_3. Six full stacks of cobblestone for tools (384)_

_4. Two full stacks of iron for tools (128)_

_5. Three full stacks of coal and flint for powering furnaces and lighting (384)_

_6. Four full stacks of dirt for farming (256)_

_7. As much sand as possible (Optional)_

_8. As much gold as possible (Optional)_

_9. As much diamond as possible (Optional)_

_10. As much emerald as possible (Optional)_

_11. As much lapis lazuli as possible (Optional)_

_12. As much redstone as possible (Optional)_

_13. As much Nether ore as possible (Optional for when we explore the Nether)_

_13. As much leather and feathers as possible (Optional)_

Norman sent Bailey, Kelly, Lizzy, and Stephanie to go into the giant nearby jungle and gather wood and dirt and Jeff, and Esmeralda to gather cobblestone, iron, coal, flint, and whatever else they could find after that. He finally directed Danny, Hilary, and Quinn to scavenge for animals for food and possibly other dropped materials. He himself decided to go with those three to help get food.

Norman and his friends—except for Danny—had found a very good system for finding food. Hilary was the oldest at twenty years old, so he took some leftover wheat he had found and began to attract animals. He came back in about ten minutes with thirty cows following him and his measly three bundles of wheat. During that time, Danny had built a big blocked off area of bedrock to trap the cows in, and Norman filled the open space inside with cobwebs to keep the animals from moving when they were being attacked. Hilary led the cows using his wheat into the prison and then jumped out on a bedrock spire Danny had created. The walls were two blocks high, so none of the cows could get out.

Danny then raised the walls two blocks higher so that Quinn could drop his infinite dragon eggs on each of the cows, suffocating them and easily causing them to drop their resources. Within about 25 minutes, all the cows had been killed except for one, which Hilary decided they should keep as an infinite milk source—and he named it White. In the end they had almost two full stacks of raw beef, and they were only ten pieces of meat short, so they continued to try and find ten more cows. In Minecraft update 32.39 on the Christmas day of the year 2206, it was added that when fed with the material they are attracted to, passive animals such as cows, sheep, and chickens will follow you no matter what you're holding. Because of this, White followed Hilary around no matter what he was holding, and he found it kind of cute.

Unfortunately, it took a whole ten minutes to gather ten pieces of raw beef. Plus, Danny hadn't been able to resist his urge, and he had started a fire with a flint and steel of his to roast some steak. Hilary, Norman, and Quinn realized what he was up to, but only after he had eaten three pieces of steak, so they had to find three to replace the eaten ones.

Norman and his team of food scavengers came back in just under an hour, and by the end of their trip they had collected two other stacks of both raw chicken and raw porkchop. They finally had enough food for the trip, and Hilary had finally enough pets. By the end of the food scavenging, Hilary had tamed a wolf (Rover) and an ocelot (Misty), and also a chicken (James), a sheep (Molly), and a pig (Gus).

Only Jeff and Esmeralda were back from their mining trip. Norman studied their two loads and found that their cobblestone, iron, coal, and flint quotas had been met, so he crossed those three items off his list as well. Along with that, they found 32 pieces of lapis lazuli, 32 pieces of redstone, and ten blocks of gold ore. Norman was glad they had found something extra to use, but was a bit disappointed that they hadn't struck diamond.

Hilary put away all of their food in a chest and sat down on it—while swarmed by his six different pets/farm animals—to wait for the rest of the group to come back. Both Quinn and Danny did the same, so Norman went over to Jeff to rest. He was putting all their iron ore in two different furnaces with some coal for smelting. As he approached, Jeff didn't notice him except for when he turned around to get out their ten gold ore for the third furnace. He gave a sad smile when he saw Norman, and after turning away to put the gold ore in the furnace he said,

"Hey, Norman."

He definitely sounded solemn. Norman knew that he was still thinking about his deceased son, and he tried to start off with his question slowly.

"Are you feeling ok?" asked Norman.

Jeff nodded as he was shoving coal into the furnace's bottom compartment.

"Yeah, I'm ok. I'll admit I've been miserable for these past few days, and nothing has seemed to give me comfort, so thanks for feeling concerned." he murmured.

"You're welcome."

Jeff turned around and smiled again, only this time he didn't look very sad. In a way, he almost looked happy.

"So, the only thing that I've been able to hold onto for comfort is the fact that I know Jonah is up in the Aether with Notch, and that now he's protected from the Glitch. Don't worry about me, I'm fine." he added when he noticed Norman about to ask another question.

Norman didn't want to push the subject any further, so all he did was nod and turn around. He walked over to Quinn and sat down in the sand. It wasn't even quite midday yet, so they had a lot of time to spare. Norman and Quinn just talked about their own experiences in life, and when Norman started off about his time on Earth, Quinn's eyes widened to the size of melons.

"The 3rd dimension?! Woah! That is freaking cool! I wish I were from an alternate dimension. I think that the Minecraft Dimension in the 64th of all of them, and there are millions of dimensions or something. Anyways, I've heard in legends that the spaces in between dimensions hold secret mod weapons and mod foodstuffs and mod tools and mod materials and stuff. Man, I wish I had a mod weapon, and ever since I was five I've wanted a diamond slingshot to shoot items. Uh, every single mod is written about in this book I found called The Modloader's Guide in the back of the library at Diamond University. And, uh, I'm not proud of this, but..."

Quinn took off his Blockpack and pulled out an ancient-looking book that was the size of an entire block, and Quinn literally had to place it on the ground as though it were a block because of how big it was. Norman's eyes widened when he looked at the book labeled **The Modloader's Guide**, and he quickly looked back at Quinn, who was grinning gleefully.

"You stole it from the library?! Why?!" he sputtered.

Quinn looked up at him and his smile disappeared and he suddenly looked embarrassed.

"Sorry, I couldn't resist! There's so much information in here about those mods, I just had to take it with me! Anyways, I'm sorry I did it, but I just have to show you some of the cool info they have in here. In fact, since we're still waiting for everyone else to come back, I'll show you one thing from every section of this book..."

Quinn seemed to turn into something like an excited little kid whenever he looked at the book, so Norman didn't want to deny him of his offer. Although, Norman was a bit interested in The Modloader's Guide himself, because he had never seen anything from a mod besides Lizzy's diamond sickle (Shatter), the liquid gold, and the diamond bow and arrows.

Quinn opened to the front page and skipped through different intros of the book and the Table of Contents to get to the first chapter, which read **Chapter 1: Mod Mobs**. Quinn picked his favorite mod mob and found it near the beginning of the chapter; the bee. Norman looked at the description and read to himself.

Bee

Health Points: 1

Attack Strength: 1

Spawn: Beehives hanging in trees

First Appearance: Beta 40.9

Network ID: 96

Savegame ID: Bee

Experience: None

The **bee **is a neutral mob that spawns in groups of 10-20 inside or near beehives, which will spawn naturally in any type of tree. Bees are only 0.2 blocks tall, 0.2 blocks long and 0.2 blocks wide, so they can fit through very small spaces and are hard to trap because of that and their quick movement. Bees are provoked if the player fills an empty bucket with honey by using a beehive or attempts to destroy the beehive, and all of the bees will slowly come out and attack the player in swarms. Also, if you were to hurt a bee with other bees around, all of the remaining bees would attack you similar to that of wolves. Bees can be very tricky mobs to kill off because of their grouping strategy, and the safest way to obtain honey from a beehive and not be attacked is to smoke the bees. To do this, the player must light a fire two blocks underneath the beehive instead of directly below (otherwise the beehive itself would start on fire), and when smoke particles begin to touch the beehive, the buzzing inside will dull, and the bees will become permanently neutral until the fire goes out or is removed. If you hit a bee with your bare hands, it will die right away because of its small amount of health points, but you will receive one point of damage because of its stinger. Being enemies that can group together, bees are dangerous if provoked, and can only be outrun when the victim in sprinting. Bees will attack whatever part of your body is exposed, so bee attacks are not prevented by armor. If you are almost out of health points and you have a bucket of water, place the water on the ground to kill off the bees, which die instantly in water.

Norman looked up from the book and met Quinn's excited eyes.

"Cool." he muttered.

Norman enjoyed reading the rest of the chapters, because all of them contained interesting mods to look at. Norman was a total geek back home, and he loved looking at the different bugs everything had. His two favorite ones he found were when he was looking at another mod mob that was passive, and it was the squirrel. Squirrels climbed and sat right inside leaf blocks on sideways logs like branches as a natural behavior, and there was a funny bug that squirrels would climb a log even if it were on fire, so the squirrel would accidently set itself on fire without realizing. The other bug said the squirrels would climb up all wood as well as wood products, so all of a sudden if you had a giant house made of wooden planks you could come home and find a big group of twenty or so squirrels sitting on your roof, and since squirrels will run away if you are within five blocks, all of them would jump off the house to their death, giving you a ton of squirrel meat to cook.

Once the two reached the section on mod weapons, Quinn immediately located the slingshot. Now on the right page, Norman began to read the print.

Slingshot

Type: Weapons

Wood: 45

Gold: 30

Durability: Stone: 120

Iron: 240

Diamond: 1440

Wood: Yes

Gold: Yes

Renewable: Stone: Yes

Iron: Yes

Diamond: Yes

Stackable: No

The **slingshot** it the most basic weapon to use and most beginners find it comfortable to use. The slingshot can also be the most useful weapon because of its special ability to slingshot every block in the game when placed next to one. All blocks give 2 points of damage except for ones with dangerous properties. The following blocks give different amounts of damage because of their own different properties.

Anvil: 6

Cactus: 5

Dragon Egg: 4

Fire (Block Only): 6 (Burning Effect: 1)

Gravel: 4

Lava (Block Only): 14 (Burning Effect: 1)

Sand: 4

Norman thought to himself that if he got the chance he would see the slingshot being used for himself, because he had never heard of anything like that before. Finally, Quinn closed The Modloader's Guide and hauled it back into his Blockpack. He then looked at Norman with a certain eagerness and said,

"Well? What do you think?"

"Pretty cool." admitted Norman, who hadn't thought that the book would be very exciting.

At this time Norman felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around to see Lizzy standing there, and she was holding one of her full stacks of jungle wood.

"Hey, guys, watcha doing?"

Quinn again zipped open his Blockpack to reveal The Modloader's Guide. Lizzy quickly put away all of her jungle wood in a nearby chest and sat down next to Quinn, who was more than happy to take the book back out. Norman didn't feel like sticking around for anymore mod reviews, so he just walked away casually and tried to find something else to do. Norman quickly located Bailey and Butterball resting about twenty blocks away in the sand. He wanted to ask Bailey a question, so he walked slowly towards her and her Creeper.

Bailey was scratching Butterball's belly, who really seemed to be enjoying it. Bailey didn't even sit up when she noticed Norman coming, but she did say,

"Hey. How's it going?" she asked casually.

"Fine."

Norman suddenly found himself looking at Butterball; he was hissing playfully towards Bailey as though they were little children. Bailey caught his eye and said,

"You can come here, you know. I've been reading up on how to control my powers as a Mobwhisperer for Creepers, and I've learned that once any hostile mob is tamed towards a Mobwhisperer it becomes, like, neutral instead. So, Butterball here isn't going to get angry unless you do something he doesn't like. Come on, pet him."

Norman had played Minecraft since he was four years old, and that whole time he had resented Creepers because of their knack for blowing up everything nice, and he still viewed them as fully hostile. Norman was definitely hesitant, but Bailey took hold of his hand and guided it towards Butterball. Butterball seemed unsure, and he began to hiss warningly a little. Bailey quietly shushed him and finally set Norman's hand on Butterball's head. Norman noticed that the surface felt like sandpaper, but when he rubbed the top the Creeper softened up a bit and stopped hissing, but he continued to stare at Norman. Bailey smiled and told Norman he could pull back his hand, which he still did quickly.

"See?" said Bailey, gesturing towards Butterball. "That wasn't so bad, was it? I knew Butterball wouldn't hurt you; it's just not in his nature. Besides, I've learned something interesting about Creepers. This wasn't in the book I read—which said that Creepers were extremely difficult to tame even for some Mobwhisperers—but I figured it out pretty quickly. Apparently, Creepers are extremely ticklish, so it's as though their tough exterior becomes melted like butter when you stroke their belly. Watch."

Bailey turned around to scratch Butterball's belly again, and he started to squirm, hissing in that playful way. Norman couldn't suppress a smile, because this whole time he thought that there wasn't a such thing as a soft Creeper, so this was a big change in his thinking. Norman suddenly realized that he should probably get to know Bailey since they were going to be going on a quest together, and the whole thing would be awkward if they hardly knew each other.

So Norman sat himself down next to Bailey—not willing to sit next to Butterball yet because of his leftover hesitance—and sighed.

"Alright," he said, speaking his mind. "I figured that if we were going on an entire quest we'd at least get to know each other, so... What do I need to know?"

Bailey sat up as well and turned her head towards him, and she looked like she was trying to think about what she was going to say, and finally she decided on something.

"Well, I was born into a very rich family that was in deep business with a mayor of a huge city far away from the one we got attacked in, and so I had a very easy life. The mayor of that city—Mayor Goldore—was a rich philanthropist, and he gave our family at least five hundred blocks of gold ore a day, so we always were able to afford the best and most luxurious of things. Because of our wealth, we had some of the best security for our home in the city, so I never had even seen a Creeper in my life.

"But just thirty days ago our entire city was attacked by an army of hostile mobs and neutral mobs, and I think I even saw demented iron golems too. My family fled the city and only seventy survivors escape, and unfortunately both my parents didn't make it. My mom was shot repeatedly by a skeleton and my dad was taken down by a pack of provoked wolves. I was almost killed by this really big and blood-soaked zombie pigman, but I managed to escape with only one heart left after shooting a diamond arrow through his stomach. I'm sorry if I sound weak, but I'm going to say that ever since I saw that huge zombie pigman soaked in blood, I've been scared of those creeps. Sorry, really, I should be a little stronger than that, but I just can't get over that scene.

"Our group fled to the water around the edge of the island and we had to travel across the ocean for twice as long as this recent trip, but then we found that Mushroom Island. On the trip, Mayor Goldore died of seasickness and we had to all vote for the next mayor to run the coming village that was to be built. The mayor had a loyal and worthy assistant who was, well..."

Bailey slipped off her Blockpack and pulled out a small picture. Norman looked close and saw two men. Both were unknown to him, but the two were quite contrary to each other. One was tall and thin, and he had a perfectly smooth face and neat brown hair. The other was very short and rotund, with a black beard and moustache combo.

"The tall man is Mayor Goldore, can you guess who the other one is?" asked Bailey.

Norman looked close at the chubby man on the left. He was looking at it for about five seconds before he noticed that the short man was holding a full stack of... Mushroom stew? Norman suddenly realized who the short one was and looked back at Bailey with surprise.

"Mayor Mushroom? How can that be him? The mayor had caramel colored hair, not black! Plus, he doesn't have a beard or a mustache!" declared Norman.

Bailey plucked the photo from Norman's hands and put it in her Blockpack.

"Mayor Mushroom changed his entire look because of how ashamed he was for not protecting Mayor Goldore, and so he made all the survivors around him after Mayor Goldore's death to not ever tell anyone about his past, and then to make sure no one recognized him he shaved off his beard and moustache and changed his hair color. Although, he was disappointed he couldn't change the rest of his physical shape." answered Bailey.

For a few seconds, Norman and Bailey didn't say anything at all and they were silent. Finally, Bailey turned to Norman and said,

"Alright, now you know about me, so how about you tell me about your life?"

Norman was a bit hesitant at first, and he thought that Bailey would think he was crazy, but he decided to tell her anyway. He told her his whole story from when he was a kid to the present day. When he mentioned the entire process of the Glitch possessing the people of his city and being sucked into the 64th Dimension where Minecraft was, Bailey thought he was kidding, but one serious look from him was enough to know he wasn't joking. Afterwards, Bailey looked like she had seen a ghost. More dead silent seconds passed before Bailey finally cracked.

"Wait, so basically my whole life has been inside a computer? Computers are only mods, so I don't even know much about them. Can you tell me what exactly I need to know about this, cuz' I'm really confused."

So Norman explained.

"Ok, you're going to call me crazy again, but I'm not kidding about this. Minecraft is a game that was created by Markus Persson (Notch) who is a real human on Earth. He and his crew—which are legendary gods you probably know as Jeb, Kappische, Junkboy, etc.—worked together to create their own company they call Mojang. Minecraft is a popular video game on Earth, so many people play it. Now, what I think happened is that for every person who buys or downloads Minecraft, another dimension is created for that person so that they may control their own character. This 64th Dimension must have created itself when Mojang first sent Minecraft into the public, so I wouldn't be worried about suddenly becoming controlled by some guy on Earth. Does this make sense or do you still think I'm a nutcase?"

Norman wouldn't be surprised by either answer from Bailey, but he was pleased when she said that he made sense.

"You know, I've always had a strange feeling about this before, and now I realize that the Glitch monster is some kind of mutation of a virus. But where did the Glitch come from in the first place? My dad once read the legend of the Glitch's origin, but the story was very brief, and it never once mentioned how the Glitch came into existence or anything."

Norman suddenly found himself thinking.

_"Where DID the Glitch come from? It couldn't have just created itself... Could it?"_

**Yeah, where did the Glitch come from? (Why am I asking, I'm the author, so I already know. ;D) Will Norman ever truly find out where the Glitch came into existence? Will he be able to keep everyone from dying in their trip through the desert? And who ever would've thought that Creepers had such sensitive skin? Find out next chapter in THE GLITCH!**

***as they walk down the street they talk about everyday things***

**(Psst, I'd like some ideas on conversations for the next two chapters with Pastrinator64 and friends, so if you have a suggestion please put it into review form. Thanks! :D)**


	16. Chapter 16: Secret Science

**Hello, this is Pastrinator64 with another chapter from THE GLITCH. Last time on THE GLITCH we watched as Norman and the gang gathered up the supplies they needed for the long trip through the desert. They are soon going to be traveling to find the Creeper Clan and its mutant: the Mechacreeper. Along the way, Norman decided to get to know some of his companions as well. (And who would've ever thought that Creepers had such sensitive skin?) But now we watch as one of the greatest, well-known, most powerful leaders in existence tries to solve some of his own problems.**

**Now, let the story commence!**

_Chapter 16: Secret Science_

As the leader of a great nation, I've had a lot of things on my mind. I have to attend meetings with the governors of foreign countries, decide what to do to improve our states through governmental decisions, and pay off the six quintillion dollars of debt. In these past 400 years our government has gone downhill, and now technology has become more important than laws. Technology nowadays has overcome the government, and I'm seeing almost everything dipped in chrome now. My name is Clarence Jordanship, and I am the President of the United States.

These current problems that have been occurring are becoming devastating for all the advanced technology in America. Our government has gone downhill because of technology, but now that it is failing we aren't even receiving any significant help. The White House has been moved to Stockholm in Sweden because of this, and only my cabinet and all of the military has come with me for security reasons.

We don't even live in the actual White House; we've set up a small brick building near the abandoned Mojang building in Stockholm where I think those Swedish designers created some game called Minecraft. It doesn't matter now, because the entire crew under the Mojang name became maddened by the extreme advancement of technology 400 years ago—and later all crew members were put in solitary confinement, though they died soon after. On an eerie note, even though the Mojang building had been abandoned for 400 years, new updates to that Minecraft game kept coming out for the public, and we've found that the technology in the building has become advanced enough to improve itself.

Today I was meeting with the head of the Department of Science (D.O.S.); Landon Barrel, and he was also the head Secretary of Science. In the little brick building we call Base Forty-Three; I've hosted a meeting today to discuss the matter of the shutdowns occurring in technology across America. Landon will know what the solution to "deleting" the source of these bugs is.

As I walked down the smooth pavement around the edge of Stockholm, I'm followed by many. Beside me I have General Chase Newman—Army Chief of Staff of The Army itself—walking on the right of me and vice president John Clearwater on my left. In a protective circle are groups of all different military forces; the Navy, The Army, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard, all forming perfect rings in order of rank around us three. The Air Force's hundred or so helicopters circled above us, each with high-tech missile launchers built inside. We've made sure to not take any chances now that there could possibly be a dangerous hacker out there.

I entered the small brick building named Base Forty-Three—which I believe used to be a bomb shelter—with Newman and Clearwater and thirteen locks slide into place on the heavy lead and iron door. Outside, I'm sure that the military forces were standing guard, which helps me ease up slightly. The room around us was plain brick with a concrete floor, and the place was completely empty except for three chairs in which we sat. Exactly on schedule, we began.

I looked to my side at Clearwater and his face was dead serious, although the General looked plain angry. He was frustrated most about this mysterious hacker because his entire life he was oldschool, and technology had been his least favorite thing, so now that technology was becoming a burden and not a help, he's become temperamental. Clearwater cleared his throat as he slipped a mini laptop from inside his black suit. This was our smallest computer; the Microputer. Not the best of names, but it was simple and to the point.

He opened it up and it automatically turned on, ready within two seconds. He tapped some synchronization commands on our technology-management program and opened up the secret file containing everything we had about the hacker or whatever the thing was. He turned it around swiftly on his lap, and when I looked at the screen he explained.

"Professor Explotar of Florencist University, California was the greatest scientist in human history. In the year of 2013—exactly 400 years ago—he created a computer program that was proven to destroy major bugs and viruses within all computers and laptops, and so everyone came to buy his products, and because of that he became wealthy within about two months. People would set up the program on their computers and laptops to rid the systems of viruses and potential hackers. All of the bugs were permanently sent to a supercomputer to contain the most major and dangerous of viruses, but only the ones that couldn't be deleted. The supercomputer—later named E.S.C. (Electromagnetic Sensor Computer)—was specialized to contain viruses and isolate them from other technologies around it, and it was 100% guaranteed to do so. Although, Professor Explotar had grown insane by his own riches and fame, and he was put over the edge when he found that an element named Explotium was added to the Periodic Table of Elements in his honor.

"He had become so cocky that he attempted to access the brain of E.S.C. and program it to delete even the worst viruses known to enter it. But when he was opening up the system, he found that the viruses had become attracted to each other, and they were coming together to form an even nastier virus. The virus itself had become so large it became a physically existing collection of mutated plasma, and it entered his body, turning him murderous and—in a sort of sense—glitched. The virus had gained the capability of entering human bodies as well as technology, and it escaped to terrorize and swallow everything in its path. This went on for only a year—thank God, otherwise we might not be here today—because of an amazing solar eclipse that occurred around midday. At this time, the virus was consuming the city of New York in its black hole of bugged plasma, but when the eclipse occurred it disappeared in a swirl of dust, echoing a screech that was heard across the world. It hasn't appeared since, but now it has found away to stay in hiding and put its viruses inside of people. On the 24th of July, 2414 in Transville, California, it struck almost as suddenly as the first time, and the entire population of the city was consumed by the virus. Does this all seem correct, sir?" asked Clearwater.

I processed this for a few moments, and all of it sounded correct.

"That is correct, John. I don't believe we have anything new on this virus, though."

As Clearwater inputted a few more commands to the program, he answered me.

"Actually, not even ten minutes ago the Secretary of Science—Landon Barrel—found a few more bits and pieces of information about the strange eclipse that caused the disappearance of the mutated plasma virus. I will call him in now, if you would like."

Information was the number one thing I needed, so I nodded. Clearwater pressed a finger to a small button on his earpiece and said,

"Landon Barrel, you may come in to join our meeting."

A short young man with wavy brown hair walked into the room wearing a bright orange tuxedo. I haven't really been pleased with his style of dressing, but at the moment that thought didn't even occur. I reached over to my left and pulled up an extra chair. Normally, Landon was energetic and engaged, but now he was nearly opposite; he was grave about these past events.

He sat down next to me and looks first at me.

"Hello, Mr. President."

I returned the welcome and then he explained his newly found data.

"Lately I have been researching and investigating the cause behind the mysterious solar eclipse that destroyed the virus, and I've noticed that all of my discoveries have been the same. I've looked at the path that the moon has been taking in history from that epidemic until today at 10:00 AM. I've found that if we were to trace the patterns back until the day when the solar eclipse occurred, we would find that the moon wouldn't have been in the correct position to cause one. It was roughly 6,595,320.7 miles from where the proper position to cause a solar eclipse would have been. Something besides the moon would have had to cause that eclipse, although it would have to be the exact same size as the moon to be possible. There must be something else orbiting our planet, and so far we haven't been able to track it yet. This could possibly be one of the strangest scientific discoveries we have ever experienced before. Here, I've located a picture that one bystander had taken from a high room in the Empire State Building."

Landon handed me a small piece of paper. It was taken from behind a glass window, and outside it was very dark. The strange thing was that the shape blocking the sun was a different shape than the moon. Instead of being circular, there was a strangely beaten-looking shape. The figure had many different bumps and edges around it, but being an outline it was impossible to tell what it was. After looking at the photo for about ten seconds, I handed it back to Landon and he pocketed it.

"We are going to research what exact direction the shape that caused the solar eclipse was going so that we can track it by taking satellite photos all around the only possible orbit it could've taken. For now, all we know is that the moon wasn't the cause of it. It may have been something that the mighty God in Heaven would call a mystery, for all we know." said Landon.

Now I was bugged by what had caused the solar eclipse if it wasn't the moon. So, I nodded towards Landon and said,

"Alright Mr. Barrel, you may go now. Keep up the research."

Landon left the room swiftly after we shook hands, and now it was just us three again. I wasn't exactly sure what we could do now that we had received every bit of our information, and I was slightly disappointed because of how short the meeting was. So, as Commander in Chief I stood up and told the General and Clearwater what we were going to do. We all stepped outside and the General took my orders and announced them through a Gigaphone—which was ten times louder than the megaphone, so you had to wear protective earpieces. I was going back to the Mojang building and process this information.

The soldiers got into their ring formations and surrounded me, the General, and Clearwater once more. We walked for only about 100 meters—I was the first President to forward and pass the law of switching to metric—to reach our helicopter, which was also guarded heavily by thirty soldiers. Once we reached the helicopter we loaded ourselves inside and buckled up. A pilot slid the heavy steel door shut and slapped on his earpiece.

"Major Kruckerberg here, are we cleared for takeoff?" he spoke.

A static-filled voice responded.

"Yes, Major K, you are clear. Sending takeoff signal in T-minus ten seconds... T-minus five, four, three, two, one. Takeoff is cleared and we're ready to go."

The helicopter began to lift into the air, and in a matter of seconds we were a couple thousand meters up. More garbled voices came from Major K's, earpiece and we immediately started forward. I looked out the window on my left and saw that the hundred or so duplicate helicopters were swarmed around us, and I could just see the same thing out the right window. At times like these I acknowledged the security I was provided, although I still had a sense of foreboding whenever every branch of military had to accompany me. Something always never seemed right...

Thankfully, the ride to Stockholm is only about five minutes—if we go at top speed—so I was able to retire to the vast Mojang building. Here was the only place I found peace. That was because at least half the military is standing outside of the building, a quarter guarding all around the inside, and only another quarter really followed me around. This way, I wasn't constantly swarmed by soldiers.

I tried to think about the virus's path of destruction, but for some reason I couldn't think, even when I was sitting at my desk in Markus Persson's main office. Then I realized why; I needed some coffee.

**Gee, being the President of the United States sure can be rough, can't it? How will Clarence Jordanship handle the problem with this new information? What was the object that had caused the solar eclipse that made the Glitch vanish? And exactly WHAT kind of coffee does he want?! Find out next chapter in THE GLITCH!**

**"So, how's everyone's lives going?" asks Pastrinator64.**

***Striker Hutassa grins and says,***

**"Well, just yesterday some guy mailed me a flaming sword, which was pretty cool. I accidently set my neighbor's hair on fire, though."**

***everyone laughs***

**(Psst, if you'd like to help out my story, please favorite me or follow, as I am running low in the means of both. Thanks! :D)**


	17. Chapter 17: An Arch of Bedrock

**Hello, this is Pastrinator64 with another chapter from the THE GLITCH. Last time on THE GLITCH we got to watch from the view of the President of the United States, seeing how his life was going managing his country on Earth. Apparently, just like in the Minecraft Dimension things on Earth are getting worse as well. A lot of things were explained in that chapter, mainly where the Glitch really came from. Also, WHAT was that solar eclipse caused by? (Why am I asking, I'm the Author, so I already know! ;D) Now we come back to Norman and his fellow survivors as they travel through a harsh desert to find their first clan: The Creeper Clan.**

**Now, let the story commence!**

Chapter_ 17: An Arch of Bedrock_

Norman and Bailey talked for a long time and went on until the sun was setting. Everyone in the group had come back with the rest of their supplies, so they had met every quota and gotten a couple of the optional items as well. Being the newly founded leader of the group, Norman announced to everyone to get in bed. They would need their strength once they started towards the Serpent's Eye where that Creeper Clan was. Norman hadn't ever seen a picture of it, but he knew that the mutant boss of the clan was some monster called the Mechacreeper, which did not sound all very comforting.

Norman quickly flipped open his journal and wrote a new entry.

_Day 7: June 29th, 2414_

_Today was probably the best day we've had so far. For starters, there were no deaths today. I'm not sure yet if this is a good thing, but the group appointed me as their leader because apparently I've been chosen to be the main hero to defeat the Glitch. I sent out different parties to gather enough resources for the entire trip we'll be taking, because now we have to slay these giant mutant mobs and obtain their special items; they are keys to open the hidden entrance to the Glitch's magic prison in The Void._

_Thankfully, everyone met their quotas and we also gained a few optional resources, and now that we've got everything we're going to start off into the desert. I'm hoping that this desert isn't too vast, because I'm afraid we might die off by running out of resources too quickly. Well, I guess we will find out once we get going._

_~Norman Cobweb_

Everyone set up their own beds around the area while Danny completely encased them in bedrock, including the ceiling. Before Danny placed the ceiling, though, Norman set up his bed near Lizzy's spot. She flopped onto the bed and then tilted her head towards Norman.

"Oh, hey Norman. So... Pretty crazy, huh?"

"Huh?"

Lizzy rolled her eyes and sighed.

"You know, just our lives at the moment. Barely over a year ago we were back on Earth, and now you and I and some other two people are gonna become destined heroes to defeat this mutated virus. Doesn't that seem crazy to you?" she asked.

Norman crawled under his covers and Danny finally plugged up the last hole in the ceiling, surrounding them in complete darkness.

"Yeah. I wish we had our old lives back. Right now I'd be eating a roast beef and Swiss sandwich or something; here all you can really eat for the most part is meat and possibly apples. It stinks."

Norman couldn't see her, but Lizzy was taking the opportunity to make ridiculous faces at him under the cover of the darkness just because she could. Finally she stopped to answer.

"Yup. Oh, don't forget spider candy and poisonous steak; those are delicious." she muttered sarcastically.

"Lizzy, I think you mean spider eyes and rotten flesh."

Lizzy muttered something like "same dif" in reply.

The two were silent for a few moments, but the complete darkness cast a sleepy effect over Norman and he found himself drowsy. He also didn't feel like continuing the awkward conversation about their lives they might never get back, so he bid Lizzy good night and buried his head in the pillow, immediately falling asleep.

The next morning, Norman found himself staring at the sky. Apparently Danny had removed the bedrock box around them, because the rising sun was able to cast a warm glow onto their area. Norman looked around and saw that everyone else was already waking up and getting ready. Norman woke up a lazy-eyed Lizzy and then started to get ready himself. He opened up his and Lizzy's chest and took out his diamond armor, and to his relief all of the items were still in the green section of the durability bar, so they were almost new.

Norman took the items out and put them in the bar on his arm that showed the items he was holding. He always was a bit skeptical about how people held their items in front—he was definitely against tattoos—but often he tried to ignore it. He felt that the armor would drag him behind, so he only kept them in his hotbar (I'm going to call it that from now on because the other explanation is too long of a name).

Norman did keep his diamond shovel in his hands just because he thought he looked a lot cooler with it. Also because it would be handy to flatten the heads of any wandering mobs. He was very confident that they would do well against the Creeper Clan since they had Bailey with them. She might be able to tame the entire army if she could let her powers loose. The mutant might not be affected, but at least there wouldn't be as many distracting explosions.

Norman gathered up their group of ten and once they were all together and ready to go, Norman declared their next directions.

"Ok, now that we've got all the supplies we need for the trip, let's just... Um... Get going! Yeah."

Norman fond he wasn't the best at giving speeches, but his words were good enough. Norman held out the Golden Eye in his other left hand—since his right was occupied with Shatter—and it spun around until the longer end was pointing Northeast; far into the desert. All with a feeling of determination, the group began to march in the direction of their new guide.

The day was quite uneventful, and to Norman's relief they weren't attacked by any mobs under the Glitch's control. Still, Norman wished that something would actually happen. The only thing significant that happened was when Norman suddenly felt thirsty and remembered that they had forgotten to make bottles for water. It only took about ten minutes to smelt sand into glass and craft three glass bottles each for the people in the group. Although, until the sun had just begun to set did they find a small pool of water with some sugar cane growing nearby. Here the group stopped to fill their water bottles and harvest the sugar cane, and once that was done Hilary crafted four buckets and filled them each up with water so that they had a portable infinite water source for refilling their empty bottles.

Norman wrote again in his journal and when he took it out this is what he wrote...

_Day 8: June 30th, 2415_

_Today was unfortunately uneventful for the most part. So far the desert just seems to stretch on, and I'm REALLY hoping that we get out of here soon. Even a stretch of plains is more exciting than this desert. The only significant event that occurred was when we had to stop to fill up some water buckets and make some glass bottles; I totally forgot that we needed to watch our thirst. We did find three stalks of sugar cane, so that means we already can start a sugar cane farm._

_Yeah, this is probably going to be the longest most boring parts of the trip, hands down. So... Yeah, I really don't have anything else to put down._

_~Norman Cobweb_

Norman and the rest of the group only stopped to rest for the night, and Danny had to isolate them inside bedrock again. Norman slept soundly that night, because their long walk across the desert was quite tiring.

The next morning, Norman once again woke up to get ready early. The entire day was uneventful in the same way as the first, and Norman thought that he was seeing the exact same dead bushes and sand formations. After writing another journal entry, Norman had a feeling that his next entries until they reached the Serpent's Eye were going to be extremely short.

_Day 9: July 1st, 2415_

_Once again we have had a day of no events. I'm becoming bored out of my mind, and the desert is starting to look exactly the same everywhere I look. I can't even think of enough to write down, that's how bad it is._

_~Norman Cobweb_

_Day 10: July 2nd, 2415_

_Another boring day. Yawn. Something interesting had better happen soon._

_~Norman Cobweb_

_Day 11: July 3rd, 2415_

_I just know I'm going crazy, I am not kidding when I say that EVERYTHING we pass looks exactly the same from five minutes earlier. Why?!_

_~Norman Cobweb_

Norman woke up early in the morning; day twelve was here. Norman almost felt no point in continuing onward. The past four days of wandering through the blistering desert have been completely pointless, and the only thing that was accomplished was that already a quarter of their food supplies were wasted. They had managed to stay full and keep hydrated, but Norman was so tired that his legs felt like they were jello. When he stood up and got ready for the upcoming day, he grumbled his daily instructions towards the group, and they grumbled in return. Everyone was bored out of their minds.

As the group walked forward, Norman noticed something again. Every day they passed a small group of dead bushes that were in the shape of a slightly bent horseshoe, and Norman even studied them carefully to find that every day when he looked at them they were in the exact same formation. Finally, Danny had noticed this as well and stomped up to the front of the group, making them stop. Most people thought that they were coming to rest, so many sat down on the sand, exhausted terribly. Norman looked up and stared at Danny along with the others. Danny targeted Norman instantly and jabbed a finger at him.

"Ok, this is just stupid! We've been walking through this desert for four days straight, and not a single thing looks any different! It's almost as though we're walking in circles! What is your goal here, Noobman?!" he exclaimed angrily.

Norman threw up his hands and said,

"OK! I admit it; I have no idea where we're going! Maybe if we just backtrack a bit we'll find some sort of sign as to where to go!"

Norman turned around on his heel and only walked one block forward before stopping. Suddenly, a sign had appeared standing up in the sand where they had walked not twenty seconds ago. Quinn stood up in the front and declared,

"Witchcraft!"

Norman slowly stepped forward and looked close at the sign, and this is what it read.

**All you need...**

**To do is this...**

**Look very close...**

**See past the glitch...**

It obviously had some kind of meaning, but Norman wasn't exactly sure what. Norman found himself thinking. The first two lines were simple and to the point, but the other two were a bit confusing.

"Look very close... See through the glitch? What does that mean?"

"Uh, Norman? What's that sign say?" someone inquired.

Norman snapped out of his thoughts and turned around. It was Hilary who had asked. Norman repeated the lines on the sign, and when he finished, Hilary looked confused as well. Soon everyone—except for Danny, who tries not to think unless he wants his brain to twist up—was thinking about what the meaning would be. Norman looked over the message another three times, but still he couldn't figure out what it meant. Almost as suddenly as the sign had appeared did Norman hatch an idea.

While everyone else was sitting around thinking, Norman felt his legs move him in the opposite direction of where they had come. He only went five steps before stopping quickly. Only ten blocks away from his position he saw an arch in the sand made of bedrock. Norman looked through the arch and to his surprise he saw through the other side not a desert, but a vast area of plains. Norman quickly moved around to the other side of the bedrock arch, but he couldn't see any plains through the other end or out in the distance. Norman returned to the front of the bedrock arch—which was four blocks tall, three blocks wide—again to find that the hidden plains were still there, plain as day. Norman waved his hand towards the arch and yelled,

"Hey guys! Come over here, there's some kind of bedrock arch thing here! On this end it leads into the plains coming to the Serpent's Eye."

Everyone crowded behind Norman and looked where he was looking.

"What are we looking at?" asked Stephanie in a suspicious tone.

"I have no idea." replied Danny in the same way.

Either Norman was going crazy or everyone really couldn't see the arch. Norman groaned and walked right up against the bedrock arch. He turned around while inside the one blocks of space and gestured for everyone else to follow.

"Come on, I know you can't see it, but there's a hidden arch of bedrock here that's leading into a big stretch of plains!"

No one followed him and Danny made a snide remark about Norman's stupidity. Norman groaned again and simply stepped through the archway into the plains. Norman looked back to see everyone still standing around the other end, but for some reason they all looked like they had seen ghosts.

"What the heck? Did Norman just disappear or something?"

"I don't know, but we'd better find him otherwise we're lost in this desert."

Norman—who was a bit annoyed that his colleagues didn't seem to care very much about his disappearance—watched as Lizzy came to the front and stood in front of the arch, blocking his view.

"Alright, since I am probably the only one who believes there's an invisible arch here, I'll just follow his path and walk through it the same way he did. If I disappear, then everyone else has to follow my same steps!" ordered Lizzy.

No one had anything better than that as an idea, so Lizzy turned on her heel and stepped through the bedrock arch. She came through it and her eyes suddenly widened once she reached the other side.

"Woah! That was cool!" she muttered, turning towards Norman. "One second I was standing in a huge desert, and the next I'm here in some giant rolling plains! Oh! I just had an idea."

Lizzy stepped backwards and experimentally put her arm through where the invisible entrance was. On the other side, everyone freaked out when all they could see was a floating arm. Quinn acted like the doofus he was and ran to the other side to see inside the arm, and he said,

"Hey, guys! Check it out, I can see all the veins and stuff! Ew."

Lizzy pulled her arm back through and giggled a bit before turning to Norman.

"How come only you can see it? How come we've been walking through a replica desert every day and just suddenly come across a gateway behind us into the Serpent's Eye?" she asked.

Norman shrugged and shook his head at the same time.

"I don't know why I'm the only one who can see it. Although, I do know now that the Glitch is also adding glitches into biomes to confuse and trap people, and that might present itself as a problem later. Oh, finally, here comes the rest of the group." he added.

Indeed, the rest of the group had figured out what to do and they were streaming single-file through the bedrock arch into the Serpent's Eye plains. Even though they now believed that there was a hidden arch, no one apologized to Norman for thinking he was bonkers. Once Norman thought everyone was ready, he walked to the front of the group with his back towards the Serpent's Eye.

"Ok now that we've found the Serpent's Eye we can find where the Creeper Clan is located. So, let's go. Yeah."

Norman again kicked himself for not being better at speaking in front of people. Although, his thoughts still kept in order with his plan, so he could hang onto that.

_"Oh well, at least I've got everyone alive to the Serpent's Eye. Now all we have to do is find the Creeper Clan, take on their army while hopelessly outnumbered, fight their giant boss mutant and escape with our lives. Hippy-do-dah yay..."_

***wakes up from nap* Huh? Wha? Oh, yeah, I was almost snoozing in that whole desert sequence myself. Anyway, now that the group has found the plains leading to the Serpent's Eye how exactly will they locate the Creeper Clan? What kind of army will they have to face, and what about that mutant? Find out next chapter in THE GLITCH!**

***Pastrinator64 turns to AerionsRealm and says,***

**"So, how's your pet hamster feeling? Better, I hope?"**

***AerionsRealm nods and replies***

**"Very well, thank you. He's no longer melting, so that's a good sign! He's still going to have to go through his evaporating phase, though."**

***suddenly, to Pastrinator64's right Pixelized Pikale and Company points down the street at a man who's scalp was smoking and shouts,***

**"Hey, that guy has burnt hair!"**


	18. Chapter 18: The Mechablast Factory

**Hello, this is Pastrinator64 with an important announcement. Starting with this chapter I will be posting chapters 19 and 20, betcause it is driving me crazy that everyone reading is so behind on what I'm currently working on. So, you get THREE chapters instead of one today. Now then, for the real story.**

**Hello, this is Pastrinator64 with another chapter from THE GLITCH. Last time on THE GLITCH we watched Norman and company wander through an endless desert. But finally, they found an invisible archway of bedrock, and when they stepped through it they entered a hidden valley. Now we find them walking through the valley, soon to find the Creeper Clan and its mutant.**

**Now, let the story commence!**

_Chapter 18: The Mechablast Factory_

Even so, the group headed out into the plains of the Serpent's Eye. Hilary's pets were very pleased because of the open space along with Butterball, who was nearly jumping through the grass. Apparently, he missed the plains and his fellow Creepers. Norman lead the group forwards into the plains for about twenty minutes, but for the most part nothing had appeared that was significant. Although, at one point they began to slope downward at a moderate pace. Norman surveyed around him to see that every area around him was curving down in one direction, and he figured that this was the "eye" of the "serpent". They walked down into the crater until they had reached the bottom, which was flattened out and still quite large.

Norman looked around for any sign of the Creeper Clan, but nothing significant showed itself. At one point, though, Quinn brushed past him and walked to the very center of the Serpent's Eye surface and bent down over something sitting there. When Norman came to where he was standing, he saw that Quinn was looking at a lever that was sitting innocently on the ground.

"What do you think this does?" murmured Quinn.

Norman was about to quick grab his hand, but Quinn had already switched the lever. Norman heard a sudden hissing sound come from the ground.

"RUN!" he screamed.

Norman grabbed Quinn by the arm and pulled him back, running away from the lever. Only a few moments went by before an explosion erupted from the ground, demolishing the entire surface of the eye's pupil. Norman only got a brief knockback from the force, but it knocked out his breath when he landed face down on the ground. Norman spat blood from his mouth and stood up shakily, looking back at the center of the land.

A crater had been created by a large group of maybe sixteen or so TNT. Norman approached the crater and looked down to the bottom, and was surprised by what he saw. There poking out of the dirt was a large surface of stone with an opening in the middle. Quinn grinned and ran towards the hole, his curiosity overcoming him once again. First he looked at a sign standing next to the hole and read,

"DANGER! DANGER! DO NOT ENTER THE MECHABLAST FACTORY! DO SO AND DIE! Dang, I don't think they want us here..."

He looked down into the hole, and after a few seconds he turned back and yelled,

"Hey guys! Check it out, there's some stairs leading REALLY far down into the ground!"

Quinn was standing too close to the edge of the hole, because the next moment he lost his balance and tripped, falling down into the hole. The rest of the group rushed to the hole and Norman knelt down on the edge, but he could only hear Quinn screaming as he plummeted. About seven seconds went by before Norman heard a dull thud somewhere far down at the bottom.

On instinct the entire group started running down the winding staircase; hopefully Quinn hadn't hit the ground too hard. The stairs kept spiraling downward, and after traveling down for about two minutes Norman almost thought that they would go all the way into The Void. But thankfully, there was a convenient pressure plate that Norman had stepped on unknowingly. Norman paused when he heard a hissing sound, and suddenly his thoughts process told him one thing; TNT! Norman quickly backed up and bumped into Danny, who yelled at him for getting too close. Although, Danny too backed up right over the staircase edge and he fell down to the bottom similar to that of Quinn. Norman tried to grab Danny before he fell, but that didn't work out, and Danny plummeted heavily into the pit. Norman listened for Danny, but he didn't hear a thud over the loud hissing.

"Weird, why hasn't the TNT gone off yet? It would have by now..." wondered Norman.

His thoughts were answered when Danny yelled out from below.

"GAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

Norman looked to see Danny climbing up the staircases twenty blocks below, running up as fast as possible.

"RUN!"

As Danny did a fantastic—and impossibly athletic—leap over Norman's head to zoom up the staircases past the rest of the crew, Norman looked down where the staircases were darkened. He saw a flash of green. Norman's stomach knotted instantly and he turned around to run up the stairs.

"Runrunrunrunrun! It's the Creeper Clan! They're down at the bottom!" he screamed as he brushed past the rest of the group.

Footsteps thundered loud below the group as they hurriedly rushed up the stone staircase, trying to outrun the angry army of Creepers heading their way. The crew zoomed up the winding staircase until they had reached the surface again, and Norman felt so glad for the giant amount of elbow room. Everyone except him ran up the slopes leading to the pupil of the Serpent's Eye, and Norman shot a glance down into the chasm.

At least a hundred Creepers were marching up the staircases already, sending a wave of hissing so immense that the air seemed to vibrate uncontrollably. Norman even felt a headache starting to form, which was weird because normally he wasn't bothered by them. Norman whirled around and ran up the grassy slopes of the Serpent's Eye until he was back into the normal plains again. He found everyone grabbing their best weapons, equipping their armor, and loading their hotbar with porkchops. Norman took his diamond armor from his own hotbar and slipped into it. Once he had put at least twenty porkchops in his hotbar, he gripped Shatter in his hands, ready for battle.

By this time, the chorus of hissing had grown louder, and Norman suddenly realized that they might not have to fight the army. Norman quickly ran over to Danny, who was near the front with him and gripped his arm.

"Danny! Block the hole's entrance with bedrock! That way the Creepers can't get out!"

On a normal occasion Danny would smash Norman's face into the dirt as a reply, but since at this point he couldn't argue, he grumbled and sprinted back down into the Serpent's Eye. Norman and the group crouched around the edge of the Serpent's Eye and watched as Danny approached the hole. Norman caught himself rubbing his chin furiously—which was a bad habit he did when he was scared—while Danny was sealing the hole with bedrock. As Danny put down the final block of bedrock where the staircase began, a Creeper's head came into view and it tried to jump out of the hole. Thankfully, Danny's bedrock had sealed the Creeper's bottom half in place, and the Creeper struggled while it was stuck, taking damage from suffocation. Only a few seconds went by before the Creeper fell to the ground and despawned, leaving a lump of gunpowder.

Norman could still hear the hissing of the Creepers below, although the bedrock seal dulled it to a bearable volume. With a triumphant look on his face, Danny walked casually over to the lump of gunpowder floating a rotating slightly above the ground. When he picked it up, he walked into the center of the bedrock barrier he had created and held the gunpowder in the air.

"I think we all know who should be thanked for saving the fate of Minecraft. None other than the brave, heroic, handsome—"

Too bad for Danny, because at that moment he was caught off due to the immense rumble beneath his feet. Danny toppled over and landed hard on his butt. He quickly stood up and brandished his sword at the center and waited for a possible attack. The rumbling stopped, and suddenly there was a dull knocking coming from the other side of the bedrock. Reluctantly, Danny removed the bedrock in the center and out popped Quinn, perfectly fine and alive.

Instantly everyone else in the group rushed back down into the Serpent's Eye and crowded around Quinn, all wondering what had happened. Quinn could barely handle all of the questions being chucked at him, and he struggled to answer any.

"What happened down there?"

"Did you fight off that army of Creepers by yourself?"

"Did you see the Mechacreeper?"

Norman squeezed through the dense crowd and managed to get through to the middle. Quinn thought of Norman as his friend, so he shushed everyone else so that Norman could ask a question.

"Quinn, how did you survive that fall? We thought you were dead meat when we saw you trip!" he murmured.

"Well, it's kind of hard to explain. While I was falling, the feeling of it and how dark it was down there really freaked me out, but then all of a sudden I felt someone catch me, and it was Notch. When he set me down, we were floating on a giant cloud in the Aether, and Notch's palace was far off in the distance. He said something about a secret in the End, but I don't remember what he said exactly because his voice was really distant. Then when he finished speaking, he disappeared and I found myself lying flat on the ground at the bottom of the hole, and the light was far above.

"I heard a bunch of hissing sounds coming from a long hallway to my right, and I knew that an army of Creepers were coming. Thankfully, I found a brand new diamond pickaxe in my hand that I didn't have before, and I dug my way into the stone wall. I then started digging my way up inside the walls of the hole around the edges of the hole so that the Creepers couldn't reach me, and once I was at the top I used my cobblestone to build a bridge out into the middle. I then realized that Danny was plugging up the hole with bedrock already, and the Creepers were only twenty blocks below, so I started jumping up higher and higher by placing stone underneath me. But once Danny placed a block of bedrock in the final hole in the middle, I was completely surrounded by darkness and I couldn't tell how far away the Creepers were. I was VERY glad that you guys let me out when I started pounding. Yeah..." explained Quinn.

A few silent moments went by before Norman spoke again. While Quinn was explaining his story, Norman's mind was forming an idea.

"Ok, it may seem a bit farfetched, but I believe you anyway. Now, I just thought of a way to destroy the Creeper Clan and the Mechacreeper all at once. Does anyone have extra sand or gunpowder?"

His idea was clear to everyone, and so Kelly stepped forward with four blocks of sand. Norman took them from her ("Thank you, Kelly.") and then looked around for anyone who might have gunpowder. His eyes immediately fell on Danny, who looked exceptionally grouchy.

"Danny, you find pleasure in killing things mercilessly; do you have any gunpowder?" said Norman with the perfect touch of sarcasm.

Danny did not catch the sarcasm, but he still was angry about forking over five lumps of gunpowder. Apparently, it turned out that Danny collected gunpowder as trophies for every Creeper he decapacitated. On knowing this, Norman felt glad to relieve Danny of some of his obsessive "trophies".

Esmeralda then came forward and placed down a spare crafting table for Norman. Norman used it to craft a single block of TNT, which he took off quickly and carefully. He stepped towards the hole in the center—and shuddered when he saw a bunch of Creepers staring aggressively at him below—and placed the TNT in the hole. As he received a flint and steel from Jeff behind him, Lizzy came up to him and leaned over his shoulder.

"Erm, Norman, are you sure we should blow up their hideout? I have a strange feeling something bad is going to happen." she murmured.

Norman turned around and grinned slightly, trying to look reassuring.

"Don't worry, all we need to do is run like heck when I set it off. Once it blows up down there, all of the Creepers will being to explode on each other, and the base should be destroyed along with the Mechacreeper; I doubt even that thing could withstand over a hundred explosions at once."

Norman struck the flint and steel on the top of the TNT and it lit up before beginning to fall. Norman jumped up and sprinted away from the hole, screaming,

"RUN! THE PLACE IS GONNA BLOW!"

Everyone else ran out of the Serpent's Eye with him. Norman expected a sizable explosion, and the one thing on his mind was putting some space in between him and the hole.

A few seconds went by before Norman could hear explosions underneath the ground, and the earth was beginning to shake violently. Norman struggled to keep balance while running and only did he feel safe when he was out of the Serpent's Eye. The group stopped fifty blocks away from the pupil of the Serpent's Eye to prevent casualties, and the explosions from underneath were causing a full-scale earthquake. They stayed still for another thirty seconds while the explosions took their course, and finally after that time the rumbling stopped and the sounds ceased. They still waited another ten seconds before walking slowly back down into the Serpent's Eye. Somehow, the top of the hole was visually unchanged. Norman crouched over the small hole where he had dropped the TNT. Looking down into the dark, he still couldn't see any damage. So instead he stood back up and turned around to face the group, who were waiting impatiently.

"Ok, I can't see any explosion damage, but only because of the light level. We should just remove the bedrock barrier, grab some torches and—"

He was interrupted by a gargantuan explosion that occurred from underneath. It was an explosion that sent everyone flying backwards about fifty blocks out of the Serpent's Eye. Norman, however, since he was standing directly above the middle, he was sent flying high into the air. When Norman was a little kid, he always wished he could gain superpowers and fly, but while he was hurtling upwards into the air at a hundred miles per hour in a ball of flames, it was just wasn't great as he had expected it to be.

Norman flew high up into the air and got a lightheaded feeling when he passed through a cloud. Norman was trying to think about anything except death, so his dulled mind managed to acknowledge the cool moisture in the clouds that extinguished his flames. Unfortunately, he stopped just above the cloud and then began to descend back down. This momentum caused him to set on fire again, and he already started thinking about what dying would feel like.

Norman almost didn't realize it when he slammed face-first into a pool of water. Norman was submerged for a confusing and (literally) breathless second, but then he bobbed back up and took a gulp of air. He parted the soppy hair from his eyes. He had landed in a small pond surrounded by tall grass. Somehow Shatter remained intact along with his diamond armor, but the durability of each item was reduced by 50%. Norman then realized he couldn't hear anything. That monster explosion had blasted the life out of both his ears. Norman curled up his fists and uttered curses at Creepers everywhere, because when he fought hostile mobs he counted on his hearing to help him out. Norman crawled onto the wet grass around the pond and climbed out into the plains.

The scene around him was more freaking hectic than he had seen in his life.

**Oh, Poptart! What exactly happened down in the hole where Quinn had fallen, was he telling the truth? Will they be able to fight the entire Creeper Clan army on their own? Find out next chapter in THE GLITCH!**

***finally they arrive at the bakery and enter, the delicious smells of chocolate and sugar***

***everyone rushes to the front counter to check out all the delicious bakery items***


	19. Chapter 19: Danny to the Rescue

**Hello, this is Pastrinator64 with another chapter from THE GLITCH! Last time on THE GLITCH we watched as Norman and the gang explored the Mechablast Factory. Unfortunately, after triggering the entire Creeper Clan to awake from their slumber they were chased back up to the surface. Quinn almost didn't make it when he barely made it out of the hole before Danny sealed it up for good. Now after being blown into the air by a massive explosion, a now-deaf Norman has to face the Mechacreeper in an explosive battle.**

**Now, let the story commence!**

_Chapter 19: Danny to the Rescue_

The Mechacreeper itself was marching towards him. The giant robot was twenty blocks tall, seven blocks wide, and five blocks thick. Its torso was the biggest part of the body and was crafted from smoothly cut iron colored dark gray with an X formation across the front colored black. The Mechacreeper's feet were large and metallic as well while covered in rubber tank tracks, and they slammed into the ground with each step the mutant took, shaking the ground. The head was cubical and made of darkly colored iron as well, and a pitch black Creeper face was chiseled unevenly into the front with small red lights in the center of each eye, giving it a crazy/angry look. The Mechacreeper looked like a weapon of mass destruction itself due to the many explosive features put into it.

This monster had two slender arms that hung down off of either side of the chest, and they held giant explosive disks with red Creeper faces printed on them. All along the shoulders and on the small neck of the monstrosity were grenade launchers at a total of six, three on each side. To top it off, planted directly on the forehead of the Mechacreeper was an extra Creeper head that had no visible features, but possibly explosive ones.

Before even moving, Norman felt inside his shirt for Lizzy's good luck charm necklace. He was relieved when he found it was still there. Norman stepped carefully out towards the Mechacreeper, ready to dodge an oncoming attack. He had only walked a few steps when suddenly the Mechacreeper caught sight of him. It jerked its head down at Norman and its red pupils glowed intensely. Norman looked up to see the extra Creeper head on its forehead starting to vibrate. Norman felt a wave of electricity shoot through him as though he were standing below a hovercraft, and when he looked down he saw something. A yellow Creeper face target was directly below him, and he looked back up at the extra head to see that it was charging up with static. Norman barely hurtled himself out of the way before the extra head shot an actual charged Creeper at the target, which landed safely and then scuttled towards him. Norman took action and slammed the Creeper upside the head with Shatter, and the charged Creeper flew back onto the ground in a daze. Norman took the advantage and jumped up before mercilessly crushing the skull of the creature.

Norman looked around him and saw that everyone else was fighting as well. Lizzy, Stephanie, Bailey (and Butterball) were fighting off a new oncoming wave of Creepers that had survived the deadly blasts from before, Danny was attempting to rip off the rubber tank tracks that were helping the Mechacreeper move, and everyone else was just circling it to find some kind of way to hurt it.

Norman ran with all his strength towards the Mechacreeper to fight. He had to dodge a couple of hurled charged Creepers and grenades, but finally he was close enough to circle around the monster. As he did so, he couldn't see any weak spot at all; it was all solid metal. He quickly ran over to see what Bailey was doing about controlling the oncoming Creepers, and he saw that she was trying her best. But as she turned the Creepers against each other, her face began to look worn and tired, and Norman knew that if she kept it up she would probably faint from exhaustion.

Norman wanted to help her and the girls fight of the Creeper Clan, but when he started sprinting over to their area, the Mechacreeper slammed its giant arm into the ground, blocking him off. Norman instead was forced to back up and avoid its newly launched explosive disks—which unfortunately were guided. Norman turned around to look over his shoulder and saw one explosive disk coming towards him at top speed. He could only think of one thing to do, and he whirled around and smacked the spaded diamond end of Shatter into the disk, which miraculously deflected back towards the Mechacreeper. He watched as the explosive disk flew and jammed itself in the left eye of the Mechacreeper. A few confused seconds for the Mechacreeper went by before the disk exploded violently, toppling over the monster in surprise. It shook the ground with a deafening boom, and for a moment Norman thought it was dead.

Quinn was still stupid enough to examine it, and before anyone realized that he was standing at the foot of the Mechacreeper while it was still dazed from the blast that had rendered its left eye useless he was already up close. Quinn was inspecting the tank tracks still rotating around the monster's feet, and he tried to hack at it with his sword to insure that the Mechacreeper couldn't get up again, but suddenly his diamond sword jammed in the tracks and was pulled out of his hands. Quinn dove down at the ground to catch his sword but the piece of metal slid under too quickly, giving a groaning crunch sound as it was crushed. The blade was still scratching the metal of the Mechacreeper's right foot underneath the tank tracks, and apparently the thing could feel that and it jumped athletically onto its feet again, smashing its foot down on the ground repeatedly to attempt and dislodge the blade.

Quinn was about to try and bury the thing in dragon eggs to defeat it while it was distracted, but the Mechacreeper was angry by the painful blade scratching its foot and it kicked Quinn onto the ground by accident. Norman ran with all his might to grab Quinn and get him out of the way, but he didn't reach him in time. Danny did, though. He was busy working on dislocating one of the Mechacreeper's slender arms, but when he saw that Quinn was about to be crushed, even he couldn't let him stay. Danny jumped off of the Mechacreeper's shoulder—which he had somehow reached by climbing—and ran down the grass towards Quinn, who was knocked out by the force of the impact.

Just as the Mechacreeper was raising its foot directly above Quinn to smash out the jammed blade under its tracks, Danny created a ceiling of bedrock two blocks above Quinn's body. The Mechacreeper was destructive enough to destroy bedrock, and when Danny could see cracks forming in the bedrock barrier above Quinn he snatched up his body and carried him away just as the foundation broke apart.

The diamond blade was lodged so badly underneath the tracks that the Mechacreeper still couldn't get it out. Its feelings went from anger to agony, and it became unbalanced and fell to the ground with an even louder boom. Everyone fell silent—although Norman couldn't really tell either way—and they started watching the Mechacreeper roll around in pain. It let out a terrible stretch of metallic hissing for at least ten seconds before finally looking around it for something to help him dislodge. Unfortunately the Mechacreeper stared right at Danny, who happened to be the most unforgiving member of their group. Danny stood there and relished the moment of torture the mutant was enduring, and suddenly he ran forward with an extra diamond sword to stab the beast in the throat. But he only got into the air for a moment before a diamond arrow whizzed by and knocked the sword out of his hands.

This caused Danny to become unbalanced and instead of flying smoothly onto the Mechacreeper's neck he toppled over and slammed his head on its chest before bouncing back onto the grass. A few dazed seconds for Danny went by before he rubbed his head and stood up angrily. He marched over to Bailey and got right in her face.

"What the hell was that for?! I was just about to send my sword through its neck, you idiot!"

When Butterball started hissing warningly at him, Danny glared down at him instead.

"Shut up, you stupid green hybrid!" he snapped.

Butterball's replied to this with a painful explosion that blasted Danny back five blocks onto his back. Bailey had used Butterball's back as a springboard and she rocketed herself into the air just before the attack, and Butterball's body parts came together so quickly that she was able to land back down in time. Danny pinched his nose that was now dripping blood and cast an evil eye towards both Bailey and Butterball. If they weren't part of the group he would have slit their throats right then and there. Bailey walked slowly down to the Mechacreeper and stood by its right foot where the blade could be heard scraping the metal underneath the tracks. The monster was still in pain because of the stubbornness of the jammed blade, and Bailey had a soft enough heart for Creepers to do the one thing no one would have dared do. She pulled back on her diamond bow and shot a diamond arrow straight in between where the tracks were pushed up covering the crunched diamond blade. The diamond arrow's impact was enough to knock the broken diamond blade out from underneath the tracks onto the ground. As the tank tracks on the Mechacreeper's feet retracted and stopped rotating, the robot made a relieved groaning sound. It then stood up and moved its foot to loosen up.

Bailey walked around and stood where the Mechacreeper could see her and suddenly Norman realized what she was doing. He stepped forward and stood in between her and the Mechacreeper.

"Bailey, don't try and control the Mechacreeper! If you fail, something really bad might happen. Even if it works, you're already exhausted and your heart might stop if you go through any more ordeals!" he declared.

Everyone—even Butterball—watched as she pushed Norman aside and took a step closer.

"It's fine, I can do this..."

Norman couldn't hear exactly what she had said, but he tried reading her lips, and he made out, 'I'm mine, I can't duel miss.'. Norman had no idea what the heck that meant, but suddenly she pushed Norman aside and stood before the Mechacreeper once again.

The Mechacreeper stared right at Bailey and she stared back. Bailey seemed like she was trying to burn an impression of her face into the robot's eyes, and suddenly the Mechacreeper's red pupils started to glow and it began hissing mechanically. Bailey kept her stance, and the Mechacreeper kept hissing. Norman immediately regretted letting her try to take control over the Mechacreeper, because suddenly she started to shake. The Mechacreeper was still resisting, but Norman could see its glowing red eyes flickering and its hissing became choppy. Norman jumped when he heard thunder booming above. The Mechacreeper's eyes were flickering even more at the sound of the thunder, and they gave out completely when a large bolt of lightning zoomed down and struck it atop its head. The Mechacreeper let out a metallic grinding noise and stumbled backwards. It was about to fall over for the third time in a half hour, but suddenly it straightened back up and looked down at Bailey. Now its eyes were bright green, and as sudden as the thunder and lightning had come it was gone.

Bailey let out an enormous breath and collapsed onto the grass, lying limp as a rag doll. Everyone ran forward to help—except Danny, who was still stemming the flow of blood from his nose—and they knelt down to examine her. Every few seconds they could see her twitching and making a cracking noise. She was taking damage at a rapid pace, and in her coma she couldn't do anything. Norman took action and snatched the cooked chicken Danny was about to eat and held it down over Bailey. After forcing an entire cooked chicken down her mouth, suddenly the twitching and cracking noises ceased. Bit by bit Bailey came to again, and in about twenty seconds she was strong enough to sit up and look around.

"Memfh... What?" she muttered.

Jeff came forward and stroked her hair lightly, easing her back onto the ground.

"It's ok, Bailey. You've succeeded in taming the Mechacreeper, but now you just need to rest."

Bailey nodded, but apparently that was the most she could do because the next moment she fell asleep right on the ground. Butterball shuffled up to her and curled up beside her, hissing affectionately.

Norman toppled onto the ground when it shook suddenly from underneath, and he brandished Shatter as soon as he was up. But when he looked up, he saw the Mechacreeper marching slowly towards Bailey, and as soon as it was close enough it loudly crashed onto its side and curled up just like Butterball. Norman couldn't believe it when it began to hiss in the same tender way at Bailey's pet, and he honestly doubted that a monster of the Mechacreeper's magnitude could be tamed. The only other monster like that was Herobrine's monster; the Wither. Even the Wither was unstable, but Bailey was able to completely neutralize the Mechacreeper no sweat.

At that point, Norman wondered what other hidden powers HE might possess that could rival Bailey's.

"Taking control of a giant robot and summoning a round of thunder and lightning; how the heck can I beat that?" wondered Norman.

Esmeralda came forward and placed a bed down on the ground, saying,

"I don't think we can move from this spot tonight if Bailey is in this condition. Should we rest tonight, Norman?"

But Norman didn't hear her because of his sudden deafness, and Esmeralda touched his shoulder to get his attention. Norman jumped and turned around. Suddenly, Esmeralda put a hand to her mouth and said,

"Oh Notch, your ears!"

Norman couldn't hear her, but for some reason he felt a sudden burst of pain in both his ears. He clasped them with cupped hands and winced, but when he pulled them back his eyes widened at the sight of blood on his hands. Esmeralda came forward and brought him some steak. Norman ate it up quickly, but when he looked up to see Esmeralda talking, he still couldn't tell what she was saying. He could barely hear any better, but suddenly he felt a smash on the back of his head that made him fall to the ground. On impact, Norman grunted in pain, but now he could hear himself. He turned around on his back and saw Danny standing over him, his nose now intact.

"That'll fix ya." he muttered before walking away.

Norman felt kind of awkward when he raised his hand towards Danny and said,

"Uh, thanks?"

Esmeralda helped him up and pursed her lips while watching Danny walk away.

"That boy has issues, major issues. Anyway, Norman, Bailey can't travel in her condition, maybe we should just hold off for the night and get going in the morning. It's your decision, are we going to rest?"

Norman snapped back into focus; he had almost forgotten that he was their leader. He knew somewhat what Esmeralda was asking because he was only partially listening, so he nodded absentmindedly. It was still morning, so they had plenty of time before the night would come. As the group of ten set up camp, Norman set down his chest and took off his heavy diamond armor. Once that was stored away, he chowed down on two porkchops to restore both his hunger and health. The only thing he kept with him was Shatter. He found that he felt incomplete whenever he didn't have his diamond shovel with him.

The rest of the day went by in a dull blur. Actually, a smudge would be a better description. The supplies that had been decreased were replenished by several search parties, but once they were back and everything had been put away, no one had anything to day. It was only midday, so they had half a day to kill. Norman found himself twiddling his thumbs while sitting on his bed. He was dead bored.

When he looked around him, everyone else was bored as well. He saw Jeff and Esmeralda leaning over a crafting table discussing every way to arrange three porkchops, two pieces of rotten flesh, and four iron ingots. Danny was busy sharpening his diamond sword now that his nose was healed, and Quinn and Hilary were playing rock, paper, shears. Everyone else was lying or sitting on their beds like Norman, bored out of their minds. Norman shot a glance over at Lizzy and immediately felt sorry for her. She must've been three times as bored as everyone in the entire group. Lizzy would go bonkers if there wasn't something for her to do.

Sighing, Norman stood up from his bed and walked casually over to Lizzy. She had her back turned to him and looked like she was slumping over. He tapped her shoulder to get her attention, and without warning she whirled around and jumped up into a standing position, which startled Norman greatly. When Norman regained his stance he looked at Lizzy to see that she had a surprisingly excited face.

"Norman, you gotta check out this green cylinder thingy I found!"

Lizzy held out an object with both hands. Norman picked it up and examined it. I was a thin cylinder covered in a greenish paper, and when Norman looked at the top there was a fuse and some gritty powder compacted inside. With a sudden suspicion he looked again at the papery covering and for the first time noticed that there was a black Creeper logo printed on the front. His eyes widened when he realized what it was and looked up at Lizzy.

"Lizzy, where did you find this?!"

Lizzy pointed a thumb over her shoulder towards the tamed Mechacreeper, which was lying down near Bailey and Butterball's beds.

"I saw something hovering and rotating off of the ground next to that Mechacreeper over there, and when I came to look at the object it saw me. It may seem like a really aggressive monster, but honestly it's a sweetheart, and it let me pick up the green stick thingy without any hint of suspicion. Either that, or it thought I was another Creeper. You know, you blew up its left eye or something?" explained Lizzy.

Norman nodded and then grinned with satisfaction and said,

"Lizzy, this is the first of the five keys that will open the prison gates in The Void! Remember, each mutant would give one of those Doorway Drops that had both great uses and had the powers of the keys to open the prison? You know, Carnepodrida told me before trying to eat the group?"

Lizzy's face dawned on a sudden understanding, and she let herself grin as well.

"Well, what is it?"

"It's the Boomstick."

"How do you know that?"

"I don't know, I just know."

"Oh. Ok then."

Norman decided that he would have to test the Boomstick's properties, so he walked outside of their camp. Finally the sun was beginning to set, so he had to test it quick. Once Norman was apart from their camp, he held out the Boomstick in his and tightened his grip. Suddenly, the green compaction of gunpowder began to utter a Creeper hiss. Norman held Boomstick above his head and then threw it with all his might. The Boomstick flew through the air with the same flight pattern as a fishing rod bobber, and it made contact with the ground above ten blocks away. The instant it touched the ground the Boomstick exploded. Norman was out of range, but when he watched the explosion he noticed that it was only half the explosion of a normal block of TNT. Norman didn't even realize that the Boomstick had materialized in his hand seconds later, and when he looked down he nearly had a heart attack.

Norman could tell Lizzy had been watching, because when he came back her grin had widened by 300%.

"Wow! That is freaking cool, dude!" she declared.

Norman smiled and said,

"You're right; it does feel cool to have a stick of dynamite... I mean, the Boomstick in my hand."

This was an important enough discovery to tell everyone else, so before the sun were to set completely Norman and Lizzy went around and gathered the rest of them together. Once they were congregated, Norman demonstrated what the Boomstick did. Quinn raised his hand at the end.

"So, what was the importance of these special items?"

"Every mutant we defeat will drop a Doorway Drop—like the Mechacreeper dropped the Boomstick. The special items will have two uses. One, they will have special abilities and uses that other items don't. And two, each Doorway Drop is a key to get into the Glitch's magical prison in The Void. Once we have the five "keys" we'll be able to open the gates and enter. See?" explained Norman.

Quinn nodded and then stretched, adding a yawn a few seconds later.

"Well, I feel like a zombie having a sugar crash after eating ten blocks of cake, so I'm gonna turn in."

Before Norman got ready to go to bed, he took out his journal and entered yet another entry.

_Day 12: July 4th, 2415_

_Today we've finally found our first clan, which happened to be the Creeper Clan. Because of Bailey's amazing work, now we have the Mechacreeper tamed and on our side. What could be better than having a giant explosive robot to protect you? Now that we've taken care of the Creeper Clan and its mutant we can move on to the next one. I have a feeling it will be either the Zombie Clan, the Spider Clan, or the Skeleton Clan. It would probably be a main hostile mob if anything._

_Although, I was reminded of how boring and long the days in the desert went by because all of the action took place in the morning, and for the rest of the day we were stuck twiddling our thumbs with nothing to do. I really hate it when that happens. Still, defeating a mutant means gaining its special item. We've got the Boomstick in our hands now, so mining might become a lot easier now that we have it. I can't wait to see what tomorrow holds._

_~Norman Cobweb_

Now that the night was coming, they could finally rest. Norman even kept Shatter with him when he crawled under his covers. As he began to nod off, he wondered what mob their next clan would be of and what the mutant would look like. The rest of his mind was soothed, and soon he fell asleep without a care in the world. Now if only Danny had remembered to put up the bedrock barriers before they went to bed.

**What? What's going on? Were they... Attacked?! Will they be able to find the rest of the clans and their mutants easily, or will they fall into a trap and perish? Find out next chapter in THE GLITCH!**

***Pastrinator64 squeezes his way through the crowd and talks to the person at the counter, who is near to fainting, clearly overwhelmed by the amount of people***

**"Alright, I'll have two cheese danishes, three chocolate long-johns, three cream-filled chocolate doughnuts, one glazed doughnut, three strudels, and one frosted strawberry Poptart for me, please."**


	20. Chapter 20: Evil Causes Triple Trouble

**Hello, this is Pastrinator64 with another chapter from THE GLITCH. Last time on THE GLITCH we witnessed Norman and the gang fight off the Mechacreeper, a giant metal Creeper menace armed with explosives. Finally, after falling down defeated Bailey had compassion and decided to tame the Mechacreeper, which she miraculously accomplished. They stopped to rest, and Norman got a chance to try out his first Doorway Drop, and now they had one key down four to go! Now we watch as evil forces cause trouble in three different places at the same time, one in The Void, one in the Aether, and one on the Overworld.**

**Now, let the story commence!**

_Chapter 20: Evil Causes Triple the Trouble_

Down in the depths of The Void the Glitch sat. It was sitting in a completely impenetrable cage of darkness and magic, stirring restlessly. The Glitch knew that it would not be able to consume all dimensions in existence without some extra help. The Glitch had sent its fastest and nastiest viruses into all of the other dimensions around it, looking for more evil forces to take control of. Although the Glitch was not sure what would turn up to meet it in its prison.

The Glitch waited for a long period of time, possibly billions of years since time and space in The Void did not exist in a particular order. To its great relief a ripple occurred in the empty space in front of it right inside the cell. Suddenly, one of his viruses flew back through the ripple and inserted itself inside the Glitch once again, becoming part of the monster. Another moment went by, but then another figure came through the ripple. It was the Pig King.

The first dimension to respond to him was the ninetieth dimension, which held the large world of Angry Birds. The greatest pig—the Pig King—had taken command and tried to destroy the place himself, but the Angry Birds kept his armies at bay. The crowned green hog fell onto the prison floor of nothing and glared up at the giant mass of plasma known as the Glitch.

"Ok, what the HECK is going on here, you giant blob of fudgy junk?! I can't believe what you did to my army; destroying it with one big swipe of viruses! Glitch, we settled this the last time you invaded my personal space! What is going on?!"

In no way did the booming angry voice of the Pig King scare the Glitch or startle it. A couple million (years, days, seconds?) ago the Glitch had taken a voice from a recording system and had lowered it so low that it was almost impossible to understand because the base overcame the actual words.

_"I have summoned you here for a reason, Pig King."_

The Pig King raised one eyebrow and said,

"Oh yeah? What's that?"

_"I have calculated the correct time of that outside of The Void, and I know now that after 400 years of being stuck down here in The Void that I have worn away at the magic bonds around my prison. I have done this enough where I can send pieces of me into the dimensions around me, enabling me to possess everything I desire with my nastiest viruses. Still, as I am currently trying to destroy the Aether Palace in the Aether and I have been aggravated on how stubborn Notch and his team from Mojang are while putting up a fight. Still, I have nearly pushed Notch over the brink, and Herobrine is finally slipping as well, but I think what the entire dimension needs is a little push to finally be consumed. So to conclude, I am bringing back together the T.I.D.L.O.P.E. (The Inter-Dimensional League of Pure Evil). Together we will be able to rule all dimensions in a world of complete and infinite darkness..."_

The Pig King looked hesitant for a moment—or a year, or a millennia, or etc.—but then he finally grunted with irritation and rolled his eyes.

"Ok, fine! But if I get any more of your viruses possessing my pig armies, I'm gonna squashed you with this ten-thousand ton crown of mine, and believe me those gold points there are sharp!" he threatened.

Having no particular body shape, the Glitch just vibrated slightly to show approval. At that time, another ripple had occurred in the air behind the Pig King. Suddenly, out popped a very short man. He was bald, but had some strange black runes tattooed on his forehead. He was also wearing silvery black robes that touched the ground.

"Ok, what's the big idea, Glitch?! I, KAOS! ...Was just about to overthrow Skylands, you nincompoop!" screamed the small man in his relatively high voice.

_"Kaos, I have summoned both you and the Pig King here for a reason..."_

The Glitch repeated his story and when he was finished, Kaos looked bored. The Glitch was not amused when Kaos fell on his butt and became asleep, and as a reply the Glitch's great mass of plasma formed drooping black arms that wrapped around Kaos tightly. As he was hoisted into the air effortlessly, he woke up and covered his face, cowering away from the Glitch.

"Hey! Stop! No way! You can't threaten the great KAOS!" he protested as he was pulled closer and closer towards the Glitch.

Then the Glitch opened its gaping red mouth to reveal the dark black hole deep inside. Only then did Kaos finally scream,

"Aaaaahhhh! Ok! Ok! You win! I'll help!"

The Glitch dropped Kaos to the ground who landed with a small grunt. Then he blinked once before saying,

_"There is only one old friend we must wait for now, and I'm quite sure that he will cooperate..."_

The Glitch froze when he heard a crackling noise coming from the ripple. Suddenly, a black tentacle poked out of the ripple and felt around the dungeon room. It lurched back and disappeared within a few seconds, but then something stepped through entirely. It was a very tall and ghostly thin man wearing a white morph suit underneath a black suit and red tie. He had no face except for blank white space. From out of his sides and back came six long, black tentacles, three on each side, and his arms were long as well, with skeletal hands. His entire figure waved and twitched slightly while he stood, giving him a ghoulish, demented look. The Glitch raised a drooped plasma limb and said,

_"Ah, yes. Slenderman, I trust that you are feeling well. How are those minors; are they as tasty as you expect?"_

Slenderman stood there and didn't say a word, his tentacles waving around slowly. Although the Glitch and Slenderman seemed to share psychic connection, so the Glitch could understand him.

_"That is good. I trust you already have figured out why I have summoned you here, Slenderman."_

The Glitch told its entire story through telepathic messages to Slenderman and when he was finished, Slenderman's right hand reached forward to meet the Glitch's plasma mass. They shook hands before Slenderman walked over to Kaos and looked down. Kaos looked up and made a nasty face.

"What's wrong with you, Slendoofus?" he commented.

The Glitch payed no attention to anything around him—even the sight of Slenderman putting Kaos in a choke hold with his tentacles—and began to think instead. The Glitch was still processing its next plan, and for now that was all he could do. In fact, the Glitch was so preoccupied with its thoughts that it didn't notice when a fourth figure stepped through the ripple in the empty space. The Glitch's eyes looked up and met another pair of eyes. Unlike its own red eyes, this figure had blank white ones.

_"Finally..."_

* * *

Notch almost forgot to duck down when a blast of black static flew at his face.

Notch and the Mojang crew were fighting alongside Notch's entire army. As Notch dived down to dodge the blast, it whizzed over him and connected with the back of the hallway behind him. He watched in horror as his throne of white wool was disintegrated while everything else around it was set on fire. This aggravated Notch completely and he whirled around, lashing relentlessly into the neck of the plasma blob in front of him.

The Aether Palace was being attacked by swarms of black plasma masses sent by the Glitch itself, and as soon as Notch had seen the end of the main hallway explode he knew that the Glitch was barely being contained anymore. Notch was ripped from his thoughts when a zap of black static smacked him in the chest, and he was knocked backwards onto the ground. Another plasma mass towered over him, ready to suck him into a mini black hole. But Notch had barely opened his eyes after the impact before he saw a diamond pair of shears—mod—pass over him and lodge itself into the plasma mass, cutting it down to molecular pieces. The diamond shears flew backwards over his head and heard the grunt of someone catching it. Notch quickly stood up and smiled when he saw a stocky figure running up to him.

"Thanks, Muttonchop. I'm glad you decided to come." he remarked.

Muttonchop was a faithful warrior of Notch's who was the head commander of the Sheep Squad. He was a sheep dyed cyan who stood up on its hind legs like a human. He looked just like a regular sheep in general except for the fact that he was standing up and that he was wearing a diamond helmet. Notch looked down at the diamond shears in Muttonchop's hands.

"Oh, so you've brought out Shred for the occasion? That old girl hasn't seen a battle in hundreds of years..." murmured Notch.

Muttonchop hurtled Shred to his left and it sheared the skin off a nearby plasma mass, leaving its exposed white fleshy under armor. The plasma mass was embarrassed enough to flee the battle scene, and when Shred flew back into Muttonchop's hand Muttonchop turned back around and grinned.

"Right that is, mate. But this old girl is plenty capable of skinning the likes of any mobs around here, or any other scum for that matter."

Notch grinned himself and replied,

"Good thing too; these viruses won't let up! Hah!"

A mass of black plasma had leapt over Muttonchop completely and almost tackled Notch to the ground, but he stabbed his diamond sword upward at the precise time, impaling the virus and destroying it into another million black pieces. Notch heard a shout from behind him and whirled around to see Steve running up to him as he was being chased by a small group of viruses. Notch gestured for Muttonchop to come forward and the two banded with Steve to help fight off the group. Using Steve's and Notch's diamond swords and Muttonchop's diamond sheers, they had reduced the group of plasma masses to nothingness.

Notch took the short opportunity to run down the shattering hall to fight alongside the rest of the Mojang crew. Even though his castle was being destroyed, Notch had always loved a battle that pumped him up with adrenaline. In fact, he laughed heroically as he jumped into the midst of a battle going on between Jeb and two other viruses.

* * *

Norman woke up to hear a scuttling noise. He jumped out of bed and looked around, but didn't see any Creepers approaching. Eerily, in the dead of night there were no monsters in sight at all. Not a few seconds had he stood up did he notice that everyone in his group was gone, poof, vanished. Then he felt something bite him in the neck, and he yelped out in pain but then was knocked out cold by the amnesia-like poison.

* * *

Once again Norman woke up after having a dreamless sleep, only this time he woke to the sound of about a couple hundred pairs of scuttling legs. He tried to get up, but then he noticed that he was wrapped inside some kind of cocoon of sticky silk. Norman couldn't find Shatter at all near him, and he had to tear at the silk with his bare hands. After a matter of minutes, a hole in the silk opened, and he poked his head through.

Norman was inside a gargantuan cave, and when he looked behind him he could still see the plains. But inside the cave, cobwebs lined the walls and ceiling. Hundreds of spiders were crawling everywhere in the cave, on the walls and ceiling too. He was in a monstrous spider nest. Norman panicked even more when he saw that he was being carried towards a two giant vats; one had lava bubbling over. Norman could tell something wanted them for dinner.

As Norman tried to look around some more, he gasped in pain. He put a hand to the back of his neck and recoiled, touching the bite marks that he had received from the spider. Using the least amount of movement possible, he looked forward to see more spiders carrying bundles of spider silk. Their entire team had been captured!

Norman knew that he would have had to find a way to the next clan, but being kidnapped wouldn't have been his first choice. Norman looked behind him again to see if he could escape out the entrance, but spiders were crawling in so many places you could barely see the floor. Norman lifted up his arm and looked at his hotbar. It was completely empty except for twenty pieces of glass that he had leftover from who-knows-what. There was only one thing he could do, and Norman took action immediately. He quietly tore open the rest of the silk cocoon and jump off the spiders back onto the ground. It whirled around and made one of those strange scratch-hissing noises, then bared its fangs. Norman jumped up onto a pillar of glass until he was eight blocks high, then speedily built a glass box around him.

At least thirty spiders were now pursuing him, and all of them climbed onto the glass box. After about ten seconds, Norman couldn't even see anything except for a bunch of spider abdomens. Spider noises pounded through his ears, and that was all he could here for a few moments. Norman searched around his blocked view and found a small hole in between two of a spider's legs. He could just see inside the dim cave, and his entire group was still trapped inside cocoons. Norman reached behind him, but suddenly realized that the spiders had taken his Blockpack too. Norman didn't have any glass left, so he was completely out of supplies. With all the spiders swarming around on the glass, he might just have had to sit there until he starved. Norman peered hopelessly outside of the tiny hole of space while his friends were being carried away towards the two vats of bubbling liquid far ahead.

Normally, he had some kind of plan or he could come up with one, but his situation was completely hopeless. Norman knew that the only thing he could do if he didn't want to die was sit there and wait for the Spider Clan's mutant to come and attack him. He watched as his friends were brought over and were carried up onto the edge of the first vat. The spiders then flipped onto their backs and landed in the oozy batter, submerging every one of his friends. This went on for about five seconds, but then the spiders climbed back out and headed over to the other vat. Norman suddenly realized that everyone was being transformed into deep-fried treats! Norman wanted to kill the spiders as they lined up one by one over the vat of lava. One jumped into the lava and deep-fried his friend in the batter, but in the process the spider died, and another one had to carefully reach in and take out his dead companion.

Norman had a sudden thought that burned through his head like fire.

"What if that was Lizzy?! Or Jeff?!"

Norman was so helpless, he could only yell and scream at the spiders. At one point Norman smashed his fist hard on the glass in front of him, when all of a sudden all of the glass shattered at once. Norman gasped when he saw that he was standing in a box of cobwebs now and he wasn't falling through. Also, the spiders were getting stuck and they were barely moving at all. Norman looked over at the spiders again, and his breathing became shallow as another companion was deep-fried by the lava vat. Norman knew he had to try and use his powers, and he punched away the one cobweb in front of him and thrust his arm towards the spiders surrounding the lava vat. He saw a single cobweb appear where the spider coming next was, so he made a circle with his arm and the whole ring of spiders were stuck in cobwebs. Ten of the thirty spiders were nearly fallen through to kill him, but he took action and punched away the spiders near the hole in front of him. Evidently, he was able to walk right through the cobwebs at a normal speed, but suddenly he felt his sores and bumps from traveling seem to wash away when he was inside the cobwebs.

_"You know, maybe this power has its uses after all..."_ he said to himself silently.

Norman jumped down and laughed to himself as he ran across the cobweb floor while sprinting, and his hunger didn't even go down! He sprinted right up to the vat where the immobilized spiders were almost into the vat. Norman knew he had to replace the lava with something, so he did something huge by placing a cobweb over every lava block, extinguishing it entirely. Norman gasped as he dropped to the ground from a sudden exhaustion.

_"Ok, so these powers have their low points too..."_ he said to himself silently AGAIN.

The hundreds of spiders in the cave were now coming towards him, and suddenly Norman found himself looking up. As soon as he did, he found out what kind of glitches the spiders were getting. About forty or so spiders were slowly descending down from the cave ceiling, a fine stream of cobwebs appearing from their behinds. Norman shuddered for a moment, and when he looked down at the bottom of the vats, all of the hundreds of spiders were climbing up to kill him. Norman immediately put a thick layering of his own cobwebs around the two vats, and then jammed all the spiders above him with more.

This drained his energy considerable, and his arms and legs suddenly felt weak. He was brought back to his senses quickly when he heard a ripping noise. He straightened up and saw a great mountain of wild red hair coming out of the batter-soaked spider cocoon nearest to him. Lizzy crawled out and fell to the ground with a gasp, and then she looked up at Norman and sighed quickly.

"That was SO GROSS!"

Norman pulled her to her feet and looked up. The spiders were slowly starting to come down, and he was forced to put down a bunch more to slow them down. Norman looked behind him and saw a couple of spiders were nearly up onto the vats. Norman instead put a half-sphere of cobwebs around their entire group. Not even a second after Norman fell to his knees from exhaustion, breathing in shallow reps. A chorus of ripping noises occurred at that moment, and Norman managed to raise his head to see everyone in his group coming out from their batter/silk cocoons. They still had about twenty seconds before the spiders would be upon them, so he did a head count while Danny took charge and started digging down into the stone of the for them to make an escape. Norman suddenly realized something they had to do one more thing if they wanted to live while he was performing the head count, and his weak hand grabbed Danny's arm that was nearly out of reach.

"Danny... Replace... Cobwebs... Bedrock..." he muttered.

Danny grunted and raised up his arms, instantly replacing all of the surrounding cobwebs in the ENTIRE cave—Norman just meant the protection around him—with bedrock. Danny immediately fell flat on his face and started snoring, right on the spot. Norman put a hand to his forehead and muttered,

"Idiot..."

Norman finished the head count, partly distracted from the wave of spider noises coming from behind their protection barrier. He gasped helplessly when he realized which of his group had been sentenced to a fiery death. Before he could even form the name in his head, he heard Jeff cry out from the other side of the vat.

"Esmeralda?! ESMERALDA! ESMERALDA, WHERE ARE YOU?! ESMERALDA! Esmeralda..."

**I don't think this could get any worse! First, we witnessed as several cameo villains from other dimensions came to The Void to join the Glitch in plotting evilly. Second, we watched as the Aether Palace was being taken over by the Glitch's virus army. And now, Jeff has yet again plunged into depression at the loss of his wife! Will evil EVER be stopped?! Find out next chapter in THE GLITCH!**

***the lady behind the counter just nods nervously and runs off into the kitchen to get their food***

***as the group waits they go and sit down at two nearby tables and converse some more***

**(Psst, this is another opportunity to suggest some conversations through reviews. Thanks! :D)**

**Also an important announcement, I must say that it is obvious no one seems to notice my poll, so I will just go with the results I have. Note: I WILL BE ADDING SATURDAY AS A DAY TO POST CHAPTERS UNTIL I CHANGE MY MIND TO SOMETHING OTHERWISE! Thank you, and goodbye...**


	21. Chapter 21: Revenge

**Hello, this is Pastrinator64 with another chapter from THE GLITCH. Before I start, I would like to apologize for missing yesterday's posting due date; I was attending a Destination Imagination State Competition at Stevens Point the entire day and I got home way too late to even think. Anyway, now that that's cleared up, last time on THE GLITCH we watched as the Glitch's evil virus army caused mayhem and destruction in the Aether and Overworld at the same time. Also at the same time, we caught a peek inside The Void in the Glitch's magic prison. We watched as some cameo villains appeared, all readying themselves for a secret upcoming meeting. The good news is, after being captured by the Spider Clan Norman actually found a use for his "useless" block power! Now we find Norman and company traveling down into the ground in search of the Spider Clan's mutant.**

**Now, let the story commence!**

_Chapter 21: Revenge_

Even in his complete exhaustion, Norman thought to himself that Jeff couldn't possibly take much more depression. He was right.

Jeff completely shut down after realizing that Esmeralda, his only family member, had left. As the last of their group began to dig a staircase down into the stone of the cave, Jeff followed slowly from behind, dragging his iron sword with a blank expression on his face. Norman had ordered the group to start digging down underneath the cave in hope of finding all of their stolen supplies, weapons, armor, and food. After that, they'd have to find the Spider Clan's mutant. After much complaining and yelling, they were forced to dig down through the stone with their bare hands, and the only way they could make it faster was to each work all at the same time. Norman didn't have any food to regain his strength, so he also stayed behind and pretty much crawled down the steps going into the earth.

After getting his needed rest from the previous ordeal, Danny kept trying muttering prayers to Notch for them to find their things quickly, but somehow he always managed to turn them into threats instead. The group was digging down for the longest most boring hour of their lives, but finally after that long wait a hole opened up in the next level down. Being th leader, Norman slowly and pathetically crawled over and looked down into the hole. Before he even got a chance to see what was down there, Danny decided to be clever and kicked Norman in the butt, making him fall down into the hole. Norman grunted when he hit the stone floor, which was ten blocks below, only relieving him of more energy. He sat up and muttered some very unpleasant things about Danny under his breath before looking around. He was in a 10x10 room of pure stone. Two torches lit the walls on each edge of the square room, and when he looked near the back he saw many chests lined up against the wall with a couple of furnaces mixed in.

Norman heard a thud from behind, and he scooted away from under the hole, seeing that everyone else was jumping down to meet him. Danny was the first down, and he smirked at how helpless and weak Norman looked.

"How was the fall, Noobman? I hope it didn't hurt too much."

Norman didn't even feel like retaliating. He crawled over to one of the chests while ignoring Danny completely, and miraculously inside was all of their food supplies. Norman chomped down on three porkchops to restore his hunger bars, and after a few seconds or so he began to feel less tired. By the time everyone had jumped down into the hole, Norman had gained back enough strength to stand. He took this opportunity to snatch Shatter back from a different chest and whack Danny over the head.

"That felt good..." he thought to himself.

Danny was about to strangle Norman, but Quinn stepped in and held up his arms.

"Dudes, keep your cool!"

"Shut it, you dirty hippie." Danny retorted.

With his newfound strength, Norman ordered everyone to each take a chest and its supplies. He did not. When someone (*ahem* Danny) complained that he wouldn't be carrying anything, Norman explained why.

"I know, I know. But the Spider Clan's mutant will probably be coming after me since I'm the leader, so I'm not thinking it would be best to leave me with anything important, alright?"

After all of the chests and furnaces and supplies had been stored away, Norman cleared his throat for everyone's attention again. As he slowly walked towards the group to make himself visible, he said,

"Ok, now that we've got our stuff back, I say we start tunneling—"

But before he could even finish his sentence, Norman stepped on a stone pressure plate that no one had noticed. He heard the sliding of pistons, and suddenly the entire floor opened up, sending them down into a dark hole. Most people either screamed over flailed around while falling, but then suddenly everyone was stopped by something soft and sticky. Everyone except for Norman, who fell right through the unknown substance. Norman landed instead on a stone pillar that just happened to be below him, and when he looked down he gulped and nearly lost balance. Below him was a large flat area of glass with pistons around the edges, and on the other side of the glass was about a hundred or so spiders, all hissing and spitting at him. Norman looked up and suddenly met a bright light. He could now see that his friends were all stuck in a thick jumble of cobwebs, only they weren't moving at all. Norman hadn't become stuck because of his block power, and at that moment he actually thanked Boris for giving him the block power of Cobweb.

Norman found that he could see very well through cobwebs at will, and when he looked through the barrier trapping his friends he saw that they were in a small room, only 25x25. Norman wanted to get out of there quick, so he did the jump-up pillar method, making a pillar of cobwebs all the way until he was standing atop the jumble of cobwebs. He wasn't sure how, but he willed the cobweb trap to become solid for him, and he quickly went about and freed everyone. As he came to Danny, he paused for a moment and smiled. Danny stared menacingly at him and said,

"You melon-headed freak, you'd better free me up, otherwise I'll rip you apart in a second!"

Norman continued to smile and said,

"I seriously doubt that. Maybe if you weren't in such a—sorry, bad pun—STICKY situation, you'd be able to hurt me. Then again..."

Suddenly, Danny's look went from angry to scared. He stared right above Norman's head and his lip quivered. Norman saw this and muttered,

"What?"

Suddenly, he felt something like pincers clamp around his neck and he was hoisted into the air. Gasping for breath, Norman turned his head frantically and met not a pair but eight giant glowing red eyes. At that instant, the random light that filled the room extinguished, leaving Norman to stare at the glowing red eyes for even more intense moments. Suddenly, the monstrosity hissed like a spider, only twenty times louder. The light in the room flickered rapidly, turning from bright to dark, confusing Norman's eyes completely—on a strange note Norman could even hear suspenseful background music coming from out of the walls. Using the flashes of light, Norman quickly backed up and stared at the giant spider before him.

He was facing a spider that stood five blocks tall and was ten blocks long and seven blocks wide. The spider mutant had eight legs that were three times longer than they should have been at seven blocks long each. From underneath they stretched out and swapped at their group, who had begun to fight. Norman ran forward and jumped up, thwacking the spider mutant in one of its eyes. Instantly, the eye he had hit hissed and extinguished its light, leaving the spider mutant looking like it only had seven eyes. Norman then thought to himself,

_"Bailey, now would be a good time to start shooting its eyes out... BAILEY! OH NO!"_

Norman had completely forgotten about the other victim of the deep-frying, and he had to wipe his eyes for a few seconds to prevent himself from crying. He had gone to the trouble of talking with Bailey about her life for nothing. He was able to come back to focus when a giant black leg swept him off his feet, sending him into the wall. Norman gasped and yelled out in pain, but he quickly healed himself with a porkchop. Norman jumped back to his feet and saw that someone else had knocked out the eye opposite of the one he hit. The spider mutant retaliated by climbing up the wall at supersonic speed—so that it was a blur of black and red. Norman watched as the creature made its way onto the ceiling in under a half a second, and it dropped down on top of Hilary, who barely managed to hurl himself out of the way. The spider mutant got up just as quick and repeated this, climbing up the wall in record time and trying to squash its victims. Norman had never seen anything move so fast, and now it was nearly impossible to slow the thing down.

_"Wait a minute! I can slow it down!"_

Norman raised his hands up towards the spider just as it fell off the ceiling, and it slowed down instantly, barely moving inside its cluttered barrier of cobwebs. This hadn't drained Norman very much, but he still ran forward. Norman jumped up and jabbed Shatter into another of the spider mutant's eyes. It hissed and spit slimy saliva—which thankfully turned out to be nontoxic. Norman hit another eye, and when he glanced over his shoulder he noticed that everyone was watching him. Unfortunately, that quarter of a second cost him greatly, because the spider mutant dropped down on top of him and pinned him down to the ground. Norman held up his arms above his head as the spider mutant used its front two legs to bash him up at an extremely rapid pace. Norman couldn't protect against this, and he felt a crack in his back. Suddenly, the whacks turned into whips. Every rapid slap of the spider's legs were sharp and painful, and Norman could feel gashes forming in his back. Suddenly, the spider jerked to a stop, frozen in mid-whip. Norman painfully lifted his head and turned it to look at the spider mutant. He saw Jeff standing atop the spider with three swords stabbed into every one of the spider mutant's eyes except the large middle one. His expression looked deadly as he said,

"This is for my son Jonah and wife Esmeralda who had to suffer because of the wrath of the Glitch! ALL OF YOU MUTANTS WILL DIE! THE NETHER IS YOU'RE ONLY HOME, YOU DAMNED CREATURES! I WILL NOT LET YOU KILL ANYMORE!"

Jeff let out a terrible yell and pulled out a fourth sword, which he thrust down into the spider mutant's final eye. Norman's stomach lurched when he saw the blade go down through the spider's skull and out the other end, spilling a blob of spider guts—which unfortunately spilled all over Norman's shoes. The eye remained flickering red for a few seconds, but then it faded away. The spider mutant let out a screeching hiss and then fell to the ground with a thud, right on top of Norman's already scarred back. Norman gasped in pain as Danny and Hilary rolled the giant spider mutant's carcass off of his back.

Norman felt someone slowly feeding him some cooked chicken, and he looked up to see Stephanie Flowerpot kneeling over him. Norman felt his gashes begin to seal up and heal, but when they were done he could still feel a dull burning sensation.

Norman stood up shakily and asked someone to place down some torches. He then wiped the spider guts from his shoes. After the room was properly lit, anyone in the group who wasn't badly injured replaced all of the cobweb floors with glass. They still needed to see down where the spiders were being kept from them. When Norman took a glance downward where the sticky pistons and glass were, he saw that the spiders were still trying to get at him. The spiders must've been smart enough to find an alternate path to get to them. Norman just assumed that they were down there for extra violence if needed, but the spider mutant had died before it could see the spiders loose.

Lizzy walked up to him once the floors were completely glass and held out something in her hands. Norman took it and gathered everyone around to see. It was the spider mutant's Doorway Drop. The drop itself was very boring in appearance, really. It looked like a long and thick pole colored black. Norman then realized that it was one of the spider mutant's legs. He tried placing it on the ground, and he gasped when it appeared. The leg was still intact at seven blocks long, but it sat completely still on the ground. Norman had a sudden idea and sat on the spider mutant leg, and he had barely even leaned forward when it shot in that direction at supersonic speed. Norman hollered like a cowboy and performed a fake twirl like he was using a lasso. He rode around the room at twice the speed of someone sprinting for a few seconds, but then straightened his back, and the spider leg stopped. On a humorous note, the spider leg moved like in the same motion as an inchworm. Norman hopped off and the spider leg fell flat on the ground. He wanted to know what it was called, so he quickly took the Golden Eye from his Blockpack—which he found in one of the chests from earlier. He looked into the golden pupil and saw both the name of the Doorway Drop and the mutant. After taking a glimpse, he turned to the group who were waiting impatiently.

"Well, we just faced the Spider Clan's mutant, which turned out to be named Tanglera. Also, Tanglera's leg is just called Tanglera's Leg, so that'll be easy to remember. Unfortunately, we still have to get rid of those spiders down there. Man, I wish Bailey were here, then she could just have the Mechacreeper blow up the whole cave." said Norman.

Suddenly, a dull explosion occurred from far away, somewhere above them. Everyone paused.

"What was that?" someone muttered.

Again, a boom echoed from somewhere distant, but this time it sounded closer. Norman looked at the wall above where they had fallen through the floor. Suddenly, a third explosion occurred, and the floor above them broke open, raining down much rubble and debris. Norman held his arms over his head and coughed a few times before looking back up where the explosion occurred. Suddenly, a face appeared from up above.

"Hey guys! Come up here! Blackberry blasted us a way out!"

It was Bailey! Norman's mouth hung open slightly and for a few seconds he was silent. Bailey waved her hand and beckoned them again. Norman looked around at the group, who were all either sighing with relief or letting out tears of joy.

"Alright, everyone! Apparently, Bailey is still with us! Everyone can use their blocks powers to jump up and out of here. You all know the jump-up pillar method, right?"

Using the jump-up pillar method, everyone in the group ascended up on their own blocks—except for Stephanie, who had to share with Hilary because of her flower pot powers. Once they were all up, Danny closed up the hole with bedrock so no one would fall in again. Norman saw Bailey standing there with a grin, and Butterball was scratching his back on the stone wall. He rushed over to Bailey and said,

"Bailey, how did you survive that lava deep-frying?! And where did Butterball and the Mechacreeper go?!"

"Well, it's kind of a long story." she murmured. "It's morning now, but last night I heard a scuttling kind of noise, and when I woke up I saw a giant army of spiders coming in from the east. I woke up Butterball and Blackberry and we put some distance in between us and the camp—I also took the time to find Hilary's pets, because they were also getting nervous and moving around. We watched you guys get carried away, and we followed behind the spider army until we reached the cave. I knew I had to come and save you guys, so I snuck around back of the cave and had Blackberry blast our way down. Eventually, we found this room, and we heard some yelling from underneath the floor, and then we blasted a hole through! There you have it." she explained.

Norman furrowed his eyebrows.

"Uh, who's Blackberry?"

Bailey turned around and pointed upward. Norman looked up and gasped when he saw the Mechacreeper staring down at him with its two giant eyes through a giant hole far above, blocking most of the sunlight. Still, one was smashed-looking and the other was perfect. It took him a few seconds to understand, but when he did he stared at Bailey.

"You named the Mechacreeper Blackberry? Of all the names you could pick, like Deathblast or Flameburst, you picked Blackberry? Nothing else crossed your mind, nothing at all?!"

Bailey shrugged and said,

"I think it's ok. Sorry I didn't ask."

Norman held his forehead and rubbed it to relieve an oncoming headache. After grumbling a few times, he breathed heavily and gathered his group's attention, leading everyone to the hole.

"Alright, let's get out of here!" he declared.

The entire group made their way up through the uneven hole, jumping and climbing the distance. After about a minute of jumping, they emerged into the sunlight of the day. The sun was just above the horizon. Hilary was very glad to find all his pets safe and sound. Norman paused for a moment along with everyone else, almost absorbing the sunlight. Norman's chest swelled and he took a deep breath of clean air. Only for a moment though, because at that moment he found himself with a mouthful of water. Norman choked and coughed, and then looked up after parting his drenched hair. He saw Blackberry (the Mechacreeper) sitting waist-deep in a nearby lake, soaking itself.

Norman looked back at everyone else groaning and holding their sodden clothes. He again glanced at Blackberry, who was staring at him.

"HSSSSHH, HSSSSHH, HSSSSHH!"

When Norman realized that it was laughing at him he muttered,

"Very funny, you over-sized rust-bucket..."

**That's kind of cute, even for a giant metal explosive monster. Anyway, how will Jeff feel about the rest of the trip without his son nor wife? Will his grief overwhelm him and shut him down once more? And which clan will Norman have to face next now that it's two down, three to go? Find out next chapter in THE GLITCH!**

***Pastrinator64 starts out the conversation***

**"So, does anyone here have pets?"**

***a couple people raise their hands***

***Enderwolf speaks***

**"I've got an Enderwolf that can teleport when it barks!" he declares.**


	22. Chapter 22: The SOSKG

**Hello, this is Pastrinator64 with another chapter from THE GLITCH. Last time on THE GLITCH we watched as Norman and the gang were confronted by the Spider Clan's mutant: Tanglera, a giant and very speedy tarantula. After Jeff's anger got out of control he killed the beast by stabbing four diamond swords into its eyes single-handed, cursing all of the mutants to the depths of The Void. After finding that Bailey, Butterball, Blackberry-and Hilary's sidecharacter pets-were still alive, they blasted their way out of the Spider Clan's cave. Now we watch as Norman and company travel off into the plains, soon to come across a very strange and abnormal village.**

**Now, let the story commence!**

_Chapter 22: The S.O.S.K.G._

Norman quickly located Jeff, who was leaning up against the stone wall of the cave nearby. Jeff glanced up at Norman and muttered "hi". Norman nodded and tried to put on a smile, but it ended up looking kind of weak.

"Jeff? I don't know what to say about what's happened, but I'm really, really sorry about Esmeralda."

Jeff sighed held his head, but then he replied saying,

"It's all right. When we were fighting Tanglera, I knew what I had to do to avenge my family. The rest of the three mutants that are left will also receive the same fate for their cruelness."

A silent moment went by, but then Jeff looked up into the clouds and smiled. Only his smile wasn't a sad smile, it actually looked happy.

"You know, Jonah and Esmeralda might have suffered here in the Overworld, but now that they're up in the Aether with Notch they won't ever suffer. Even if the Glitch destroyed the Aether Palace like the monster it is I'm sure that Notch will make sure that they are kept safe..." he murmured.

About five seconds of silence went by. Norman felt bad about everything Jeff was going through. If he had lost two family members within two weeks, he'd be completely shut down. Norman then admired how strong Jeff could be even in the worst of times. Jeff must've been tired of the silence, so he nodded at Norman and said,

"Alright, we'd better get moving. If we're going to find the rest of these mutants, we're going to have to kick it into high gear."

So Norman quickly gathered up their group of nine—not including Butterball and Blackberry—and then they were off in the blink of an eye.

It didn't take very much time for Norman and company to reach the village, which happened to be a mere hundred or so blocks from their position. Norman really had no idea whatsoever what to do, so he just began to wander farther into the plains at random, followed by his group. The village was a tiny little area of only four structures and a well, and it was positioned near the border of a jungle—the houses in fact were also quite small. They entered the puny village and it seemed completely deserted. There were no people around, no sounds came from the houses. Norman even saw a tumbleweed block—mod—drift by lazily.

Suddenly, Stephanie spoke up from behind.

"Well, we might as well see if anyone is in their houses."

Norman looked around again at the deserted mini-village. He shrugged and murmured,

"Ok."

They entered the village and squeezed their way through the one-block pathways separating the four mini houses. As Norman came closer to the houses, he realized that they were all identical, but only 3x3x3 each. Norman shrugged to a lot of strange looks, and he led them to the door of the bottom left house. Norman opened the door and found only a torch and a chest. Norman looked inside the chest, but there was nothing. So, they moved onto the house next to it. The result was the same. Finally, after checking the third house, which was also vacant, they checked the final home in the top right. Norman opened the door and checked the chest. It was empty. For a moment, Norman wondered what the point of the puny village was, but suddenly he noticed something inside the chest. As he was staring, Danny yelled impatiently from outside to him—the entire group couldn't fit inside well enough.

"Hey! You almost done in there?!"

Norman looked down into the bottom of the chest, ignoring Danny, and his eyes widened. The bottom of the chest was cut off, and a hole went down about five blocks into the ground, lined with ladders.

"Hey guys! I found something here!"

"Oh, what is it now?! Another mutant hole, I bet!" replied Danny.

"Maybe."

Norman slowly climbed down into the open chest and descended on the ladders. He landed lightly on the stone floor, and he found a stone staircase stretching down farther into the ground. Thankfully, Norman could see its end about twenty blocks down, so they wouldn't be walking an unknown distance. He turned to look behind him and saw Lizzy coming down into the hole. She landed and shouldered Shine, which was gleaming with a new polish. She peered over his shoulder with some difficulty to look at the staircase.

"Oh, boy. I have a bad feeling about this, and I don't know why." she murmured softly.

Norman slowly moved forward to make room for the other seven people coming down. Norman suddenly wondered what Blackberry would be doing while they were down there in the ground. Norman crouched down and did his best to silence his footsteps as he crept down the staircase. As he went down the first half of the staircase, he started to hear voices. Some sounded complicated, some very calm, and about 2/3 of the way down he was able to make out the words.

"...bind our knowledge together, the proper logic would form with combined intelligence and answers would come with such effortlessness and time-saving capabilities."

"Ah yes, I couldn't have said it more adequately, Professor. Pigson."

"Now, would anyone care for another spot of tea?"

"Of course, Doctor Squidson. How can I oppose your generous offer?"

Norman kept walking, but even slower now. He didn't know who the people were down at the bottom of the staircase, but he wasn't willing to take any chances. He had bad experiences with the unknown factors of situations too many times in the past to not be careful. He watched a moving distorted shadow on the end of the staircase move as the person talked.

"Ah... That is excellent tea, if I do say so myself, doctor."

"Now then, let's not become distracted. We still must focus on the question of how to teach the young and old minds of mobs everywhere. If they shall not listen to us, we must try new approaches."

"Of course! That is exactly why I proposed that we together formulate a proper and popular idea to express to the public by binding together our... Wait a moment."

Norman put a hand to his mouth to silence his breath. The voices became silent, and Norman saw the distorted shadow on the wall move. Footsteps echoed through the room next to the staircase, and suddenly a figure emerged from behind the wall. Norman caught himself as he almost tripped over. Standing right below them on the landing was a pig. This pig was standing on its hind legs, holding a find wooden cane with a gold cap. He wore a silk cream-colored top hat and a monocle. Suddenly, it spoke.

"And what do we have here? A group of young chaps ready to explore the wondrous depths of logic and literature?"

Norman froze in place, staring at the anthropomorphic pig. He looked over his shoulder and saw everyone staring at the pig from behind, all with the same shocking look on their faces.

"What's with the talking bacon?!"

_"Classic, Danny. Just classic."_ Norman thought to himself.

Norman and the pig stared at each other for a few moments, but the pig broke the silence quickly.

"Well come on, then! We were just having some tea!"

The pig walked gracefully back into the side room. Norman cautiously followed the pig, and he suddenly found himself in a small, comfortably lit room. The room was fashioned out of jungle wood planks, and Glowstone was place in three of the corners except the entrance to give the room enough light. Chairs—which strangely enough were unimplemented blocks—were set up around the room in a square, and all four but one were occupied. They were occupied by even more mobs. Norman saw a sheep with a monocle and silk top hat plus a cow and a chicken wearing the same. He looked to his left and saw a squid floating in a glass tank, and even it was wearing the same outfit. Norman slowly turned his head in time to see the pig sitting down in his chair. He also noticed that they were all holding gold canes, only each of them had a different gold top. The pig had a gold porkchop, then gold wool, gold leather, gold feather, and when he looked at the squid the top was a gold ink sac.

The room wasn't exactly the biggest, so everyone took a while to squeeze inside. Once the whole group was inside, the pig gestured towards the ground.

"Please, sit down and maybe you will find yourself more comfortable."

Everyone sat down, but their eyes remained staring straight at the pig. The mob put both hooves on its cane and tapped it on the ground.

"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Professor Pigson. This here is Professor Sheepson, Professor Cowson, Professor Chickenson, and Doctor Squidson. We are the Society of Splendidly Knowledgeable Gentlemobs (S.O.S.K.G. for short); we direct the curious minds of young and old mobs to a knowledgeable and educated future. Also, our intellect—as you could imagine—is top Notch, as we must know how to lead and succeed with utmost certainty."

Professor Pigson leaned forward in his chair and continued with a question.

"And what has brought you here? Are you travelers?" he inquired.

Norman fidgeted on the ground uncomfortably for a few seconds, but finally he answered,

"Um, in a sort of sense, yes. But, we were just wandering through the plains. And... We saw your little village, and... We weren't sure what to do, so we just explored each house, and all of them but yours were empty. So, we're not really sure what we're doing here."

It was the best Norman could explain. Professor Chickenson piped up from the side—he was small enough that he just clutched the gold top of his cane and it miraculously stood up for him to support himself on.

"And what, if I must inquire, caused you to wander throughout the plains so unknowingly?" he declared in an almost suspicious tone.

Norman's thoughts were running around through his head. Should he tell them what they're quest is about? What if they turn out evil? Norman glanced up to see all the professors (and the one doctor) watching him. He decided he couldn't think up a good enough lie, so Norman had to tell them the truth.

"Um, you won't tell anyone this, promise?" he asked.

Professor Pigson put a hoofed foot to his chest like a hand and said,

"On a gentlemob's honor! We shall not tell a single soul of this meeting or anything related to such topics."

Norman sighed and told himself that there was no going back now.

"Alright. We were sent on a quest to defeat the Glitch. We need to find a way to the next mob clan and mutant. But, we DO have a compass to guide us, but whenever we follow it we're always led the most direct route. As a result, the mob clan we face can easily spot us and kill us. What I'm trying to say is, we need to find a secret entrance into the next clan's hideout." he explained.

Professor Cowson stood up and declared,

"Well, why didn't you say so, my dear boy? We are the masters of knowledge and logic! May I see this compass of yours?"

Norman nodded and unzipped his Blockpack, carefully bringing out the Golden Eye. Norman hadn't looked into the Golden Eye yet, but he was sure that they were either going to face the Zombie Clan or the Skeleton Clan. He hadn't done so because he wanted to make sure they didn't lead themselves unknowingly into the hideout while in plain view; that would have been a disaster. Norman handed the Golden Eye over to Professor Cowson and he grunted when he held it up to his eye.

"It's got a bit of weight, doesn't it?" he commented.

After about ten seconds of looking through the Golden Eye, the professor put it down and held it in his lap.

"According to this compass, you would be traveling through the nearby jungle into a hidden jungle temple deep inside. There lies the Zombie Clan and its mutant; Zombulk. Although, using the abilities of logic, I can see that once seeing this you would walk directly through the entrance and be ambushed by zombie guards. All jungle temples are mostly underground connected to dungeons with monster spawners. This means that there must be a mineshaft near the jungle temple you are looking for, and furthermore you could enter through a secret passage by finding the room of cobblestone and moss stone with a zombie monster spawner. By entering through a secret passage, you may be able to sneak past the zombie guards silently—as they are some of the lowest creatures in intelligence—and set off a trap to kill all the unsuspecting zombies and hopefully their leader. To sum up my thoughts, I propose that you travel underground whenever you are in the midst of the jungle nearby." he explained.

Norman had a bit of trouble keeping up with his complicated voice, and a few seconds went by before Norman had processed everything that Professor Cowson had explained. Then he realized that there was still one flaw in his plan, so he spoke up.

"Um, professor, how are we going to know when we are under the jungle all the time. We might accidently wander off underneath a desert without knowing."

Professor Chickenson spoke up from the back of the room.

"Ah, yes! I am delighted that you asked! I am an inventor, you see, and I am actually a super-chicken mod mob that Notch created about thirty years ago. I have the highest intellect of this group, and using it I create fantastic inventions, just like Notch! I invented this one a couple of years ago, but I rarely ever used it. I've been waiting for someone to have the need for it, and I suppose that you are the perfect individual to use it!" he declared.

The professor flew up and popped the gold feather top off his cane, but the cane stayed standing still. Then squeezed down inside the revealed-to-be hollow cane and came back out with a small silver button. Not a coat button, but a button like on a piece of machinery. He tightened the gold cap back on the cane and then hopped towards Norman. He held out the button and Norman noticed that it had a letter and number printed in white on it. It read F3.

"This is the F3. Like the hotbar on your arm, when fixed into your skin, it never falls off. Being pressed causes the data of your existence to appear in front of you. Using this, you can tell where you are, so you'll never have to worry about not knowing whether you are underneath the jungle. Here, the procedure for surgery is really quite painless..." said the professor.

Professor Chickenson jumped and balanced himself on Norman's left arm, right above the hotbar. He then positioned the F3 on Norman's wrist, right next to his hotbar. Norman only felt a bit of a pinch, and then when Professor Chickenson let go of the F3, it was fastened seamlessly onto Norman's wrist. Norman moved around his hand in different directions, and was amazed at the F3's ability to flex and twist without breaking. He then took a finger and pressed down on the button, which clicked lower into place. Suddenly, a bunch of white numbers and data entries appeared before him. This is exactly what they read...

Minecraft 91.4 (11 fps, 1 chunk updates) Used Memory: 99%

C: 187/4624. F: 258, 0: 0, E: 4179 (999,999,999MB)

E: 1/18. B: 0, I: 23 of 1,000,000,000,000MB

P: 134. T: ALL: 16 Allocated Memory: 99%

MultiplayerChunkecache: 441 (53,000,000,000MB)

x: 433.25627 (433) / c: 27 (1)

y: 4,000 (feet pos, 5,460 eyes pos)

z: -816,49079 (-817) / c: -52 (15)

f: 3 (EAST) / -89.99522

lc: 15 b: Plains bl: 0 sl: 15 rl: 15

ws: 0.100, fs: 0.050, g: true fl: 4

Even being a computer geek, Norman never knew exactly what all of the data meant, but he did see that all of the numbers there was exactly like the data one could open using the F3 key on one's computer keyboard. Norman looked around for his position and found that amongst the confusing numbers and variables it indeed showed that he was currently in the plains biome. He pressed the F3 and it clicked back up. The data in front of him disappeared in a swirl of static. After this was done, he nodded at Professor Chickenson and said,

"Thanks! I guess I don't need to worry, then."

Professor Chickenson hopped back up onto his cane and balanced before replying.

"You are welcome, my dear boy. Now then, is there something else that you must do before you leave on your upcoming journey?" he asked.

Before Norman could say anything, Danny spoke up from behind in a rude tone.

"Hey, meatchunk! You should be a porkchop, you know! That way you might actually serve a purpose besides walking around with that stupid cane." he exclaimed.

Professor Pigson didn't react the slightest bit annoyed to Danny's insult, but instead replied with something equally offensive.

"Yes, I understand that being rejected is hard on you, but trying to gain approval from insulting others is not the correct approach. Perhaps all this has gone to your head. May I consult Doctor Squidson for you? He is an excellent psychiatrist and could help you with your—how should I say—problems?"

For a moment Danny looked like his head was going to explode. Suddenly, he stood up and tried to run at the professor.

"Why I oughta—"

Jeff and Hilary had to grab both his arms to prevent him from seriously maiming Professor Pigson. Even then, he was mere inches from the professor, but the professor in no way acted startled, and he looked back at Norman through Danny's legs—he's a pig, so that's really not that hard with his size.

"Now young chap, is there anything that you desire from us now that we have given you our compass and our knowledge? I do not mean this with bad intentions, I simply must ask before you go forthwith into the hazardous jungle." he inquired.

Norman still was confused on how they really ended up where they were, but he thought about that for a few seconds and decided on his answer.

"Actually, I think we're fine now, professor." he stood up and gently pulled Danny back into place, who grumbled and swore a couple of times. "Thanks for the F3 and that secret passage idea."

Professor Pigson waved and replied with,

"Ah, you are welcome, my dear boy. Have a pleasant journey!"

Norman ushered everyone else who was still sitting to stand, and they began to file out of the room. Norman led everyone through the doorway and he was about to go himself when suddenly he felt a hoof on his shoulder. Professor Sheepson was near him, looking very old and depressed for some reason.

"My boy..." he uttered with a very tired voice—clearly he was the oldest of the society. "I must ask you of a favor..."

Norman hadn't seen Professor Sheepson talk at all in his visit, but he replied politely.

"What is it, Professor Sheepson?"

The professor coughed and leaned heavily on his cane, but kept his hoof on Norman's shoulder. He cleared his throat and managed to straighten up a bit.

"If you find my son, tell him that I am waiting. Tell him that we must meet immediately..." he muttered softly, staring blankly into Norman's eyes, which Norman noticed were very pale with almost no color, colored a milky white.

Norman suddenly felt uncomfortable standing there, and he stepped back and nodded vigorously while walking through the doorway.

"Yes, sir. I will, um, try and find your son."

He quickly escaped from the elder sheep's demented stare and climbed up the stone staircases to the ladder. He exited the house and found everyone waiting for him outside.

"Norman, what were you doing down there?! You wasted a WHOLE minute! We might actually need that time, idiot!" yelled Danny, who was also giving him a stare—only this one was menacing instead of creepy.

Norman quickly noticed a pattern with Danny. If he were even a minute late for anything, Danny would be the first person to point it out, but when DANNY made the mistake, he went out of his way to stubbornly deny everything. Norman didn't feel like coming up with a comeback, so he just walked right past and looked out towards the jungle. They still had three mutants left to kill.

**Well, at least they were able to kill off two of them quickly! How will Norman find the Zombie Clan? Will they get captured again? And why must Danny insist on being so difficult?! Find out next chapter in THE GLITCH!**

***gin ketsueki pipes up to Pastrinator64's left***

**"You mean this little guy?"**

***holds up a black dog with purple eyes that has purple snowflake particles floating around it***

**"Enderwolf! Bad boy! I told you not to teleport away from home when I was gone!"**

***Enderwolf takes Enderwolf in his hands and cuddles him, not really angry***

**"You little bad boy, you! You naughty little puppy, doggy-"**

***Enderwolf freezes and looks up to see everyone staring awkwardly at him***

***puts down his dog and mutters,***

**"Uh... Sorry..."**

**(Psst, I have an important announcement! Starting tomorrow and ending after this next Saturday I will be posting a chapter every day because I am being driven crazy about how far I am in typing compared to how far you are in reading. So, in other words, I will have a chapter for you on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, but only for this week. Thanks for listening! :D)**


	23. Chapter 23: Two Sweet Occurrances

**Hello, this is Pastrinator64 with another chapter from THE GLITCH. Last time on THE GLITCH we watched as Norman and the gang found a miniature village with a secret meeting room underneath. And to their surprise, they found a group of anthropomorphic animal gentlemen called the Society of Splendidly Knowledgeable Gentlemobs (or S.O.S.K.G. for short). After gaining a new device called the F3 to keep track of their location they headed back to the surface. Norman was confronted first by the elderly Professor Sheepson for a request of finding his son, setting Norman up to think suspicious thoughts. Now we see the group heading into the jungle, determined to find an abandoned mineshaft linked to the Zombie Clan's jungle temple.**

**Now, let the story commence!**

_Chapter 23: Two Sweet Occurrences_

Norman was about to declare that they were setting out into the jungle when he saw that everyone was crowding around someone shouting like a bunch of vultures hovering over a kill. Norman ran forward and investigated, and found that everyone was gathered around Quinn. Once he squeezed through well enough to see, he muttered "woah" at the thing sitting before Quinn. Someone had placed a block of dirt right in front of Quinn. There on the block sat a dragon egg that Quinn was inspecting. It was very odd, because this egg was colored snow white for the most part, but with cream colored spots. It was almost the exact opposite color scheme of a regular dragon egg. Quinn looked up at Norman quickly and said,

"Dude! Look at this thing! I was really bored when you guys were talking down there with those old guys and I snuck up here. But the all I could do to entertain myself was create a bunch of dragon eggs and drop them all over. Suddenly, I saw this egg sitting in between two normal ones, but when I tried taking it away, it wouldn't go away! I kept trying but it sat there without going. I don't know why it's colored this way, either."

Norman bent down on his knee and inspected the dragon egg himself. As he got close to it, he found that a sugary smell was wafting up from it in a warm mist. He noticed that the spot of cream color were actually holes, and they were dripping something gooey. He dipped his finger in a bit that fell out and sniffed it. It smelled like the same sugary smell that the whole egg had. Experimentally, he put a tiny drop on his tongue and suddenly he got a taste of creamy dough. Norman stared at the egg with complete confusion. For some reason, Quinn must have created a white chocolate egg somehow.

Lizzy came forward and quickly put her hand in the cream colored hole and scooped out a handful of the gooey dough. She guzzled it down and muttered,

"More! This stuff is gooooooooood!"

Norman grabbed her ready wrist and prevented her from reaching again into the egg.

"Hold on there, Lizzy! You're energetic enough as it is, you'd be a sugar-buzzed squirrel if you ate anymore of that! Besides, it's goop coming from an egg! That's disgusting." he added.

Lizzy shrugged and replied with this,

"Well, it tastes good."

Norman heard a couple of people gasp and he looked back at the egg. More hot mist was hissing out of the holes, and suddenly the top cracked open and the entire shell slid off. This splattered a considerable amount of white chocolate over the group, but Norman wiped the substance from his eyes and stared at the broken egg. In the white goop left in the broken eggshell stood a mini dragon that was only as big as a quarter of a block. It looked exactly like an Enderdragon, only it was made of pure white chocolate with cream colored wings and eyes. It was sitting in a graceful position. Quinn reached forward and said,

"Cool! Look, it's a chocolate Enderdragon sculpture!"

Quinn reached out and tried to pick up the mini figure, but it hissed at him and he pulled his hand back. The chocolate figure came to life and tried to make its way through the chocolate goop around it. Everyone backed up as it jumped down off the dirt block it was sitting on. The mini dragon stretched and its tiny mouth let out a yawn, its tongue curling far back so that it's practically down its throat. (In real life, that's what my dog looks like when she yawns.) Quinn was only frozen for a second, but then he slowly reached forward and put his hand out to the creature. It looked at him for a few seconds, but then crawled slowly onto his palm. Quinn barely lifted up the mini chocolate dragon, but it tilted its head and let out a little high-pitched croaking sound. Norman heard just about every girl in the group go "awwwwww" at that moment. Quinn looked pretty excited himself.

"Wow! I'm a daddy!"

Danny walked forward and snorted when he saw the dragon.

"A daddy to that ugly reptile? Yeah right."

The dragon responded to his comment by spitting a glob of sugary dough in his face. He wiped away his eyes and squinted at the small white dragon, which had rolled over on its back and started hissing repeatedly as though it were laughing at him. Danny's face could be seen reddening even through the goop, and he launched himself forward to strangle the creature. But both the dragon and Quinn moved out of the way in time and Danny instead plunged face-first into the eggshells and extra goop dough. Norman looked back and saw that most people looked like they were about to laugh their guts out, but they were all too scared to do so.

Norman looked back at Quinn and his chocolate dragon. He was watching the thing walk around stretching its wings, but he didn't look comfortable yet. Norman slowly slipped through the crowd and approached him. Before he got a chance to say anything, Quinn looked up and beat him to the chase.

"Ok, now I've got to take care of a dough-spewing dragon. What am I suppose to do if the thing gets eaten? I'll be cursed with guilt my whole life!"

As if on cue, the dragon stretched its neck over and took a big bite out of its right wing. Quinn gasped and said,

"What?! Don't do that! Stop, you're gonna eat yourself to... Death, or something!"

But just as suddenly as the wing had been bitten the chunk missing regenerated instantly, good as new with no marks. The dragon let out a tiny burp and suddenly it grew to twice its size. Now it was half the size of an average block. Quinn stood up and stared at the chocolate dragon in amazement.

"Oh, cool! I won't have to worry about feeding you! You know, I'm gonna name you something. Let's see..."

He sat down again cautiously patted the small dragon on the head. It also lay down at looked at him curiously. He kept going "hm..." for a while. The dragon rolled over and lay on its back, and he rubbed its belly. The dragon curled around, enjoying the belly rub (Norman was vaguely reminded of Butterball), and it suddenly hiccupped and sent a spray of sugary white dough into Quinn's hair. He looked down and tried shaking the substance from his hair, but then he looked at the dragon and grinned when he noticed that its stomach was covered in a slick layer of the dough.

"I'm gonna call you Doughbelly! Yeah, that sounds good." he decided, feeling proud about his choice.

Apparently, Doughbelly liked the choice too, because it jumped up and started running around Quinn in circles. Lizzy ran over at this time and stared at Doughbelly.

"Oh my Poptart! That thing is more hyped up than me! Cool!"

Doughbelly stopped and looked up at her, then promptly spit dough in her face. Lizzy scraped off the dough and started eating it.

"Can he fly?"

Norman felt a hot breath on his back and whirled around. Danny was standing there, looking as menacing as ever.

"How about we throw it off a cliff and find out?" he suggested.

At this time, Doughbelly hissed at him and then leaped gracefully up onto Danny's forehead, practically drowning him in dough. Danny's cries were blocked by the big mass of dough that was now around his head, and Norman was amused at the sight of him running around frantically to get Doughbelly off. Then he remembered that they had a jungle to explore. Norman stood up and turned around, and saw that everyone was just talking or sharpening their weapons to pass the time. Norman coughed loudly and everyone looked in his direction.

"Ok, I think that with the chocolate dragon (his name's Doughbelly, by the way) and the Gentlemobs we've had enough distractions. Now we've got to start our journey to find the Zombie Clan," Norman turned around and pointed into the trees. "Inside that jungle! But, we're going to have to travel underground and find a mineshaft with a dungeon connected to it. Once we find a dungeon, we'll each have to mine out pathways in all different directions (except the one we entered) to find a secret passage. Let's go!" he finished.

So that's just what they did. The entire group gathered together and stored all such supplies except for armor and weapons, and then headed quickly into the jungle ahead of them. Norman stayed in the back until they were all going forward, but then heard a noise behind him. He turned around and saw Professor Sheepson's blank stare drilling holes into his own eyes. He shivered and turned around. He almost wanted to find the old sheep's son just to prevent him from staring all the time.

They entered the thick jungle within seconds, and immediately Norman had a sense of foreboding. He walked with his team for about ten minutes of tiring jumps and hacking through vines and leaves. At one point, they all stopped to rest, and Norman took out a bottle of water and drank from it, careful to watch his thirst. Then, after eating a porkchop, he jumped up onto a leaf block from a ground-level tree. He looked up at what he could see of the sky. It was beginning to turn dark. Everyone eventually noticed him, but many people were healing up and getting situated, so that took another minute. Once he had everyone's attention, he declared,

"Ok, I guess that we're far enough into the jungle to start traveling underground. Plus, nighttime's coming quickly, and we're going to have to build a room underground and settle for the night anyway."

Quinn whipped out the diamond pickaxe he got from his strange dream back in the Serpent's Eye and started digging. Three other people took out their iron pickaxes and helped Quinn dig a large room just underneath the ground, right under the dirt layer. Then Hilary quickly sealed up the entrance to the outside with their dirt, and Danny put up torches around the 15x17x2 room for light. Everyone set up their own bed, and Norman decided to take out his journal. It had felt like forever since he had written in it.

Day 13: July 5th, 2415

Well, today was probably one of the weirdest we've ever experienced. First off, at something like 12:30 in the morning we had ourselves captured by the Spider Clan, and then they deep-fried one of our team members (which I am really annoyed had to be Esmeralda; Jeff can't possibly take any more of this.), and then I figured out a use for my useless powers. Then, after Jeff stabbed the Spider Clan's mutant—which its name was Tanglera—we were able to escape the place through a blasted hole that the Mechacreeper made. Also, the Mechacreeper is now Blackberry, because that's what Bailey picked.

Then, only after about ten minutes we met these mobs that could talk, and they wore top hats and monocles, and they sounded English for sure. They were the Society of Splendidly Knowledgeable Gentlemobs, and they actually gave us this machine called the F3, which shows our exact position in the world. After we left those guys the day got even weirder and Quinn somehow hatched a chocolate dragon egg that yielded a white chocolate reptile that spits dough. Yeah, this was a pretty weird day.

Although, now that we've been "enriched by the logic of the Gentlemobs" we know what to do to find the next mob clan. We're going up against the Zombie Clan next, and it looks like we'll be traveling underground for the most part. For my sake and my team's sake I desperately hope that we can all stay alive.

~Norman Cobweb

Norman shut his book with the feather pen inside and crawled underneath his covers. Their day was pretty exhausting, too, and that helped Norman to fall asleep quickly.

**IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII**

The next morning, Norman woke up first and then shook awake Lizzy. They both woke up the rest of the group. Norman went to wake up Bailey, but when he turned around he saw her pulling on a shoe. Butterball was scratching his back up against the stone wall.

"Oh, you're already up." suddenly, Norman realized something extremely major that made his mind go off in another direction. "Wait a minute, where the heck is Blackberry?! He can't possibly be fine up out there, can he?!"

Bailey grinned and pulled out something from her other shoe before putting it on. She was holding a tiny block the size of a cheese cube, only it was colored gray with green dot in the middle.

"Did I mention that Blackberry can compress himself to really tiny sizes?" she murmured as she started taking out her armor.

If Norman had the physical capabilities, then his mouth would have dropped to the stone floor at that point. Norman took the cube and held it in his open palm. He was holding the Mechacreeper? That giant metal monstrosity was now just a little cube in his hands. He felt like he was holding a weapon of mass destruction in his palm, and suddenly he felt afraid that he was going to drop it and blow up the whole jungle. He quickly gave the cube back and swallowed.

"That's... Really... Cool." he muttered.

Bailey put on her iron armor and then pocketed Blackberry.

"I know, right? Who would've known? You should see what it looks like when he compresses himself, it's REALLY cool." she replied.

Once everyone was woken up, he gathered them around and then they began to dig down. With everyone mining stone with their pickaxes, Norman suddenly found himself listening to a whole symphony of block-breaking sounds. They all dug down for another minute, but then they hit a cave. And they also found themselves facing a skeleton. Quinn crouched down in front to avoid being skewered with the arrow, and Danny quickly killed it with his diamond sword. Everyone streamed through the hole into the cave, and torches were put up around them. Norman instantly heard a couple of Creeper and spider hisses around him, and some skeleton clicks. Thankfully, with a group like theirs they were able to fight off all the monsters that came near. Bailey, however, had all the oncoming Creepers ignore them because she didn't want a single one to die.

The cave system stretched on for a while, and gradually they began to go deeper underground. At one point, they found themselves all standing on the ledge of a very small ravine with only water flowing beneath. Norman looked to his left and right, and his heart jumped when he saw a light coming from thirty blocks away. There was an abandoned mineshaft at the end of the ravine. Norman shouted and pointed in that direction, and they began to make their way. Danny wanted to hog as much gratitude from his peers as possible, so he volunteered to start making a path down the center of the ravine. They made their way onto the floor of the abandoned mineshaft within two minutes. Immediately, Norman felt something knock him down to the ground from behind. He realized it was a cave spider and smacked it upside its head, sending it down into the ravine, dying on contact with the stone ground.

Norman stood up and took a breath, and then they all headed into the abandoned mineshaft. Norman suddenly realized that the cave spider only could have came from a monster spawner, and he quickly looked around the abandoned mineshaft. Sure enough, hidden behind a mini waterfall in between four small wooden pillars was a dungeon. Norman had seven wait outside (not counting Blackberry) since it would be pointless for all of them to go inside. He, Lizzy, Quinn, Bailey, Butterball and Doughbelly entered the dungeon full of cobwebs. Norman destroyed all the offending cobwebs with the swipe of his hand and then quickly destroyed the cave spider monster spawner. There were two chests inside the dungeon. Norman opened the one on the left and found the most bizarre items ever. In every slot of the chest was a cookie. He suspiciously took out the cookies and took the chest, then opened up the other one. Same result, a bunch of cookies were just sitting in the chest.

Norman showed all the cookies to Lizzy, and her eyes lit up immediately.

"Ooooohhh!"

Lizzy tried to grab them, but Norman caught her arm.

"Lizzy, just think for a moment. If you found a bunch of cookies that randomly turned up inside dungeon chests and their original whereabouts were unknown, would you honestly eat one?"

Lizzy didn't even hesitate for a moment, and quickly snatched a cookie and shoved it in her mouth. Norman gasped and said,

"LIZZY!"

"Mmmm! They tashhte fine to me!" she replied, her mouth full of cookie.

Suddenly, Lizzy swallowed the cookie and suddenly her eyes became tinted with brown around her eyelids. She jumped forward and tried to grab more.

"More! Mooooooore! GIVE ME MORE!" she screamed.

Quinn grabbed her arms and pulled her back. Shine fell on the ground with a clatter. Lizzy was foaming at the mouth, and Norman freaked out so hard that he smacked her in the face with Shatter. Lizzy fell back onto the ground next to Shine and quickly sat up. Her nose now had a very large bruise, but she was calmed down and the tints around her eyes disappeared. Lizzy groaned and rubbed her nose where Shatter had hit her.

"Owwwwwww... What the heck just happened?!" she muttered confusedly.

Norman looked down at all of the cookies in his hands. He then looked back at Lizzy and he helped her to her feet.

"I have no idea, but you just turned into a cookie-eating freak and you tried to kill me for the cookies! I had to hit you with Shatter to wake you up, I'm really sorry! Just don't eat anymore!" he apologized.

Lizzy again stroked her nose and muttered,

"What was in that cookie...?"

Bailey came in and interjected with,

"I bet they're just a stupid trap to trick miners to eat until they were poisoned. Maybe this is a mod or something."

Norman thought hard about what mod could've had this. Then he remembered about the REALLY old mod called Crazy Cookies mod that had cookies that when eaten would possess and slowly poison you. Norman had a sudden fearful feeling and led them all back through the waterfall to where everyone else was standing. Norman told them all about the event back there but no one could really focus anyway. Everyone was focused on the fact of finding the Zombie Clan. No one really thought that the cookies were important anyway. Even Norman couldn't think of a use for them. So instead of standing around figuring out what to do with the Crazy Cookies he began to walk with the group behind him to find that zombie monster spawner. He wished he knew how long they would be down there, but there was still no telling. He didn't let that keep him back as he strode forward into the abandoned mineshaft's depths.

**Too bad they couldn't find possessed Poptarts (*winka* ;) *winka*). Where will Norman find the Zombie Clan? Will they get captured again? And what kind of mutant will the future hold? Find out next chapter in THE GLITCH!**

***butterbrine whistles and looks through the window, seeing his butterghast come up to the window***

***he tosses a cheese danish into his butterghast's mouth and the ghast mewls happily***

***leans back and says,***

**"Sure is nifty having a butterghast, I can get around everywhere! All I have to do is feed it..."**


	24. Chapter 24: Food Fight

**Hello, this is Pastrinator64 with another chapter from THE GLITCH. Last time on THE GLITCH we saw two very ****_sweet_**** things occur. First off, after accidently creating a chocolate dragon egg, Quinn watches this defective egg hatch, letting out a baby white chocolate Enderdragon that spits dough, who he named Doughbelly. Once everyone was gathered up from all the distractions they headed into the jungle, and soon found an abandoned mineshaft, the one thing they were looking for. Strange enough, they also found a chest containing the Crazy Cookies mod, which almost possessed Lizzy. Now that they are where they need to be we watch as they finally come across the secret entrance to the Zombie Clan's hideout. (Psst, this is also my favorite chapter, by the way... :D)**

**Now, let the story commence!**

_Chapter 24: Food Fight_

Norman always kept the F3 on to make sure they were underneath the jungle still. When he first turned it on he was underneath a desert, so he had to go in a different direction to get back underneath the jungle. Once they were under again, they headed deeper and lower into the abandoned mineshaft. Every once in a while they would kill a zombie or skeleton. At one point they even killed an Enderman and got an ender pearl. Norman thought that might be useful.

Norman was getting impatient after a while, and he only had to take a brief glance at the rest of his team to see that they were thinking the same thing. Finally, though, after another twenty minutes of just wandering Norman heard a gurgling noise and a groan to his right. There were two zombies coming at them from a nearby dungeon. Norman and Lizzy took the liberty of slaying the mobs. The same people entered this dungeon as the ones before, and sure enough there was a zombie monster spawner. Norman destroyed the monster spawner and then killed off a few leftover zombies. He looked around and noticed that the entire room was cobblestone except for three blocks missing from the back wall. While he was doing this, Lizzy was opening the chests.

Lizzy came forward to Norman and showed him the stash. It was fairly normal; two bundles of wheat, a loaf of bread, an iron sword and a crushed-looking black C418 – 11 music disc. Norman put all the items in his inventory and looked over to see Bailey opening the other chest. She looked puzzled when she took out an enchanted block of cobblestone.

"What's this supposed to be for?" she muttered.

Butterball sniffed the cobblestone and then suddenly ran over to the three missing cobblestone blocks on the wall. Norman understood how to open the secret passage.

"Here, let me try something." he said as he took the cobblestone from Bailey.

Norman looked at the three blocks missing in the wall. He wasn't sure which one to pick, so he just picked the one on the right. When he placed it inside something clicked and an arrow whizzed from out of the enchanted cobblestone and jammed in Norman's cheek. Norman fell back and yelled in pain. He winced as he pulled the arrow from his cheek, and now it was bleeding at a high rate. Norman looked in his Blockpack and quickly found a piece of white wool, which he pressed to his wound to stop the blood flow. Suddenly, the enchanted cobblestone started shooting even more arrows until the whole dungeon was filled with flying projectiles.

"TAKE COVER!" someone yelled.

Norman held his diamond shovel to his face and all of the arrows hitting it ricocheted with rapid clicking sounds. He slowly made his way to a corner of the room where there weren't any arrows and took out his iron pickaxe. He quickly mined the enchanted cobblestone and then the arrows ceased. Now everyone outside came through into the room even if it was crowded. They had been watching from outside, apparently. Hilary came over to Norman and gave him a sponge for his cheek wound. Norman was reassured when he found that the sponge soaked up three times more than the wool.

"Norman! Are you ok? What happened in here?" asked Jeff, who quickly approached him.

Norman was having a hard time talking, but he managed to say,

"I dunno, I guesshh three of thosshhh holessshh are trapsshh... Ugh..."

Norman instead gave Jeff the enchanted cobblestone; he seemed like he could defend himself a lot better. Jeff looked at the other two holes and placed it in the middle one. Suddenly, Norman heard a click from behind him, and he turned just in time to see Stephanie disappear into a hole. Norman hobbled over and looked down. She had fallen down into a very dark hole with green smog wafting up from it. Norman expected the smog to be terrible, but for some reason it smelled delicious, delicious like a steaming hot bowl of chili. Norman went towards the hole and was so entranced by the smell he didn't even care that he fell right down inside. Norman fell so far down that eventually he landed in a very hot sauce. Norman broke the surface of the fluid and crawled onto a giant nearby spoon... What?

Norman balanced himself on the gigantic spoon and realized that he was standing on the edge of a mega-monster bowl of chili. Norman noticed that the amazing aroma had increased immensely. Norman looked around him and gasped. He was among a bunch of other giant foods. There were building-sized loaves of bread, a monster bowl of fruit with giant apples, bananas, grapes, etc., and a gigantic cake that Norman could've used to flatten a village with. Norman jumped off of the bowl of chili and landed on a smooth wooden surface. He looked around at some other giant foods, but when he noticed a giant breadknife sitting about twenty blocks away he realized where he was. He was standing in a giant kitchen on a wooden countertop. Norman looked up at the hole and his eyes followed the trail of green smoke, which led off into the distance where he couldn't see. There were giant torches everywhere, too, but not enough for him to see well.

So he followed the green smoke. He had to descend off the giant counter for about fifteen blocks to reach the stone ground. Norman followed the green smoke all the way to a giant wooden door. It slowly creaked open when he pushed it. Norman went through and immediately stepped down on a stone pressure plate. Without any time to react, Norman was barricaded in all three directions by some pistons and the door behind him locked shut. Poisonous gas hissed into the tiny space, and Norman was knocked out instantly.

* * *

He woke up again sitting on a long table among other giant foods. He had an apple in his mouth. Norman took out the large apple and threw it behind him. The apple was jammed so far into his mouth that his jaw was aching. Norman looked around and was relieved when he saw the rest of his group escaping from other food-related traps. Quinn and Doughbelly were emerging from a chocolate sculpture, Hilary was climbing from out of a sponge cake, and Bailey and Butterball were emerging from a giant pool of gravy surrounding a giant—*snicker*—butterball turkey. Norman had a strange urge to laugh at all the puns going on at once. He looked over to his right and noticed that Lizzy was digging her way out of the bottom layer of a giant cake. He kind of expected that one.

Norman looked around and noticed that everyone else was MIA. Lizzy approached him and said,

"Woah! What happened?! When you fell in that hole, all of us came in after you, but you weren't in sight! Then we all got trapped by a bunch of pistons and we were gassed, and now only, like, half of us are here! Where's Jeff and Stephanie and Danny and all those guys?!"

Norman shook his head and had a moment where all he could say was a mangle of random noises because he couldn't seem to start off his sentence.

"I don't know!" he finally exclaimed.

Hilary came to him next and said,

"Where is everyone?"

Norman turned around and said,

"I don't know!"

Norman felt a tap on his shoulder and whirled around to see Quinn holding Doughbelly with one arm.

"Hey, where'd everybody go?"

"I DON'T KNOW!" screamed Norman.

He regretted screaming instantly, because the wound from before widened in his cheek, and he had to grab another sponge to start soaking up blood. Bailey and Butterball came over and Bailey noticed Norman's frustrated look. She was about to ask where everyone else was when Lizzy nudged her arm.

"Don't ask, he doesn't know..." she murmured.

Suddenly, a booming voice echoed from far away in the dark of beyond.

"WELL, WHAT DO WE HAVE HERE?"

Norman yelped as two giant green hands clasped around him and hoisted him into the air. Norman turned his head and instantly got a blast of hot, stinky breath. He was staring into the eyes of a giant zombie. The clammy green zombie was twenty block tall, fifteen blocks wide and ten blocks long. The thing had a very gluttonous torso with surprisingly short legs and arms. The hands themselves were 4x4x4 blocks big. The head itself was miniscule compared to the body, but the breath was so immense that Norman wished he would die rather than stay there and smell the thing's breath.

"Norman!" screamed Lizzy.

Norman heard a whizzing noise and he saw a diamond arrow jam itself in the giant zombie's right hand. The zombie looked down at Bailey, who was readying another diamond arrow. He kicked her hard and sent her flying backwards into a giant banana pudding. Butterball managed to dodge the swipe, and he ran forward and blew up at the zombie's feet. Butterball could have hit the zombie with a pillow and more damage would be done. As soon as Butterball was fused together again, the giant zombie kicked him into the nearby pudding as well.

"ANYWAY, WHAT KIND OF FOOD ARE YOU?! SEAFOOD?! JUNK FOOD?! YOU'RE NOT VERY PLUMP, THOUGH..." he grunted.

Norman grunted and struggled to loosen the zombie's grip while gasping for a clean breath among all the stinkbreath.

"MAYBE IF I EAT ALL OF YOU THEN I'LL ENJOY THE MEAT. YOU'RE ALL MUCH TOO SKINNY TO EAT INDIVIDUALLY..."

The great beast opened his mouth and Norman cringed as he was pulled close to the giant, dirty mouth. He gagged and shivered at the same time when he saw centipedes and cockroaches crawling around in between the monster's teeth. Suddenly, another diamond arrow whizzed forward and pierced right through the giant zombie's tongue. The zombie roared and fell backwards onto the ground with a boom, dropping Norman as well. Norman's breath was knocked out and he had a moment of panic. Hilary helped him up and stared at the giant zombie.

"Norman, what is that thing?!"

"That," Norman muttered, gasping for clean air after nearly suffocating. "Is the zombie mutant! If I remember correctly, this thing is called Zombulk. Professor Cowson said that, I think..."

Hilary took out an iron sword and ran forward to attack Zombulk, who was struggling to get his immense body to stand. Lizzy yelled out with a battle cry and ran forward to join Hilary. Quinn didn't want to miss out on the action, so he tried to give a battle cry but it turned into something closer to a weak yodel.

Norman ran forward and smacked Zombulk's knee with Shatter as hard as he could. With everyone smashing and slashing every inch of clammy skin Zombulk couldn't get up. Zombulk reached out with both arms and desperately grabbed two giant drumsticks. He swung them around while on the ground, and Norman was swept off his feet. He smacked his head into the wooden ground and took on a bad headache. Norman stood up shakily and saw Zombulk on his feet, charging towards him, swinging two giant deadly chicken legs. Norman dodged one swipe and heard Zombulk speak.

"I SHOULD BAKE YOU INTO A QUICHE!"

Norman dodged another attack, but then the other chicken leg smacked into him, and he fell backward. Shatter flew out of his hand and landed about ten blocks away on a buttered roll. Norman grabbed the first thing to his left, which happened to be a huge fried shrimp. As Norman started deflecting Zombulk's drumsticks with his own shrimp he looked over and saw the other six watching him with strange expressions.

"I assure you that this is the strangest thing I have EVER DONE!" he screamed.

Zombulk knocked the huge fried shrimp from his hand, so Norman grabbed a long loaf of French bread. He and Zombulk went around in circles doing a sword fighting routine for a while, and Norman ended up fighting with a sausage whip, a breadknife, a Poptart shield, and a bunch of other food-related weapons. Finally, Norman decided that he was done with all of this and he backed up quickly. He snatched up his previous sausage whip and tossed it forward so that it wrapped painfully around Zombulk's ankle. Zombulk lurched forward and Norman pulled to the side, making him trip over the sausage link. As soon as the monster's chin had hit the ground Norman took the rest of the sausage link and wrapped it tight around its neck like a noose. Norman put one foot on Zombulk's shoulder and pulled backwards, tightening the sausage so that Zombulk was choking. Zombulk struggled to reach with his small arms to loosen the sausage noose.

Then suddenly, just as Norman thought Zombulk was about to pass out the monster bit down on the sausage around his neck. Norman jumped backwards and watched as Zombulk slurped up the whole sausage link like a strand of spaghetti. Norman expected Zombulk to come forward and eat him, but he just stood up and stayed still. Suddenly, he saw a green cloud of thick gas coming from behind, and a loud BRAAAAAPPPP echoed through the air. Norman looked back up at the giant zombie and saw that the thing was smiling evilly at him.

"EXCUSE ME, THIS HAPPENS SOMETIMES."

Norman gagged as a terrible sulfur smell filled his nostrils. From out of the green gas behind Zombulk came a loud gurgle and some groans. Suddenly, Norman saw about ten zombies emerging, all coming towards him at once. From about three blocks behind him, Quinn piped up.

"Oh, crap! That thing can fart zombies! INCOMING!"

Norman backed up to escape the terrible odor and was followed by the zombies. Soon after he heard two more BRAAAAAPPs from behind and twenty more zombies appeared. Norman knew that they couldn't take all the zombies at once. At that moment, Norman remembered that he had the one item they needed. Norman looked at his hotbar on his left arm and quickly put the Boomstick in his hand. He hadn't used it in a while, and he was sure it was time.

Norman hurtled Boomstick at the thirty zombies and it blew up instantly, killing off three zombies. After it reappeared in his hand, he threw it again, killing three more zombies. He repeated this process eight more times until all of the zombies were dead. Norman looked back up at Zombulk, who was merely watching with a slight amusement. Norman gripped the Boomstick threateningly and that caused Zombulk to laugh.

"YOU THINK THAT SILLY LITTLE TOY CAN KILL ME?! YOU MUST BE JOKING! ...NOW, GET OVER HER SO I CAN PUT YOU INTO MY QUICHE!"

Norman grimaced and threw the Boomstick with all his might, but to his horror Zombulk leaned forward and opened his great mouth and swallowed the Boomstick whole. Norman gasped and his stomach became painfully tight when the Boomstick did not regenerate in his hand. Norman backed up and avoided the swipe of a drumstick. Bailey shot a couple more diamond arrows, but they all just landed on Zombulk's chest and didn't do any damage. Quinn ran forward and hacked away at Zombulk's foot, but Zombulk merely kicked him away and farted out ten zombies that swarmed him on the spot. Norman looked from Quinn being attacked by ten zombies to Zombulk swinging the drumsticks. He couldn't help Quinn, but he couldn't defend himself or anyone else from Zombulk.

All seemed hopeless in that moment, but all of a sudden a voice echoed from behind.

"Hey! You leave them alone!"

Norman moved his head to look around Zombulk. He almost stopped breathing when he saw who it was that had yelled. Esmeralda was standing there. She looked perfectly like Esmeralda with her wavy brown hair and rosy cheeks. The only thing that was changed was that her skin was green and clammy like a zombie's. Zombulk turned around and when he saw her he gave a half-grunt half-laugh.

"WHO'RE YOU SUPPOSED TO BE?"

The zombified Esmeralda stepped forward and said,

"I am Esmeralda Ironblock, and I'm here to fight with you!"

"OH YEAH? WITH WHAT, YOUR FISTS?!" replied Zombulk.

Esmeralda put a large item from her hotbar and held it in both hands. It was a large metal instrument shaped into a long tube. There was a curved handle around the bottom and some supports attached around the piece of machinery, and at the end of the tube was a circular hole. Norman couldn't see what the ammo was, but he was hoping for something painful.

"No, with this Capsule Cannon! I hope you don't mind going on a diet!" she exclaimed.

Zombulk's beady dark eyes widened and he backed up. He was about to make a run for it when zombie Esmeralda pushed forward with the handle to press a button. A red pill the size of an exercise bean was shot from out of the opening. It jammed itself in Zombulk's mouth, and he swallowed it with difficulty. While choking slightly, Zombulk yelled,

"NO! NOT RASPBERRY KETONE DIETARY SUPPLEMENTS! STOP!"

Zombie Esmeralda shot another pill. And another, and another. She kept shooting pills until they were cramming up Zombulk's whole mouth and throat. He gagged and made some choking noises. Norman noticed that Zombulk was consuming enough dietary pills where he was shrinking on the spot. Zombulk fell to the ground and choked on the pills some more, and by the time he had swallowed the last one he was the size of a regular zombie again. Zombulk groaned and held his stomach.

"OHHHHH, WHAT'S THE POINT OF HAVING THE NAME ZOMBULK IF YOU'RE A BEANPOLE?"

Since no more pills could be swallowed, Esmeralda shot one last one and just crushed Zombulk underneath. Zombulk despawned in a puff of smoke. Norman grunted as he rolled the giant pill away, and suddenly he found himself smelling the wonderful scent from previously. When he looked down at the source he found himself looking at Zombulk's Doorway Drop. The drop was actually a block colored a sickly greenish pink. It had lines and squiggles all over it with some gray areas among the colors. Norman picked up the Doorway Drop and a thought registered in his mind telling him the name.

"This must be the Brain of Rot." he murmured.

Norman placed the Brain of Rot on the ground and the scent in the air intensified. Norman found himself so mesmerized that he had a great urge to come forward and take a bite out of the rotting block. Before anyone around him thought about taking a bite, Norman bent down and chomped off a slimy bit. The resulting bitter flavor mixed with the sliminess made Norman's taste buds writhe in agony, but the smell was so amazing he wanted to take another bite. But a second after swallowing, Norman felt a pain in his stomach that was extremely sickening. He fell to the ground and groaned with pain, and Hilary came forward to help him.

"That thing's poisonous! Here, take this milk!"

Hilary forced a bucket of milk down Norman's throat and the poisoning slowly faded. Lizzy came forward and yelled at him.

"Norman! That was SOOOOOHOHOHOHO gross! Why would you eat that garbage?! You took a bite out of a rotting blob of zombie brains, for Notch's sake!"

When Norman realized what he had really eaten he jumped up and tried to rub the remaining taste from his tongue. He spit a couple times and said,

"Great, now if I burp later on I'll be able to taste this! Ok, I know it's called the Brain of Rot, but what purpose does it even have?"

Zombie Esmeralda came forward while still holding her Capsule Cannon.

"That slimy block was Zombulk's prized possession. It is made up of gray matter that has been genetically altered by Zombulk's own saliva particles to enhance smell and attract unknowing victims. He used it to lure people down here with the amazing scent, poison them with it, and then put them in his different dishes while they were weak with poison. I believe that you could use this to lure your enemies into traps. The only downside is that you'd have to be careful not to entranced by the smell yourself." she explained.

Norman punched away the block when he noticed that other people were beginning to look kind of out-of-it. This reduced the smell greatly so that no one was too entranced. Norman put the Brain of Rot in his Blockpack and then looked around for an exit. He noticed Shatter lying some blocks away, and he thought about whether it was damaged when he picked it up. Although, his thoughts were interrupted by a roar of groaning from behind. Norman turned around quickly and immediately saw about a hundred zombies emerging from the darkness, all targeting their group.

_"Oh, Notch... This might get ugly..."_

**Alright, who can agree that this was a hilarious chapter? See what I did there with the chapter title? Get it, "Food Fight", cuz' they were fighting with food... Yeah, never mind. Also, yay for zombie Esmeralda and her Capsule Cannon! Totally unexpected, I say! Now then, how will Jeff get over the fact that her wife is now a zombie? Will they be completely overthrown by the Zombie Clan's numbers? Find out next chapter in THE GLITCH!**

***the bakery goods arrive to the table***

***Pastrinator64 tosses the lady a gold ingot and says,***

**"Here, this should pay for it."**

***the lady sputters a thank you and quickly moves away***

***Pastrinator64 turns to butterbrine and says,***

**"Wait, how did you already have that cheese danish?"**

***butterbrine shrugs and says,***

**"I found it... In... My pocket."**


	25. Chapter 25: Norman Takes to the Air

***Pastrinator64 hoots and hollers with joy* Thank you, everybody who reviewed my story! :D I have reached exactly 50 reviews! Hooray! There are some specific people I would like to thank, and I will list them below...**

**a. ****_LuvrO'Pokemon:_**** My very first fan for my first fanfic, THE GLITCH. She's stuck with me since I started, and hopefully with my upcoming stories as well. Also the one who told me about the ItsJerryandHarry server.**

**b. ****_Vykktor:_**** The one who introduced Fanfiction to me and the one encouraging me as I write.**

**c. ****_Striker Hutassa:_**** Another faithful fan who's not been around as long as LuvrO'Pokemon but still a great fan to have.**

**d. ****_AerionsRealm:_**** One of my most recent fans, one of the most matured writers I've seen. Even more thankful, the one who sent me his chapter via PM so I could take a look even though I couldn't be a beta reader. Thanks for the honor!**

**e. ****_hunter415:_**** One of my newer readers, but one who I admire for his strong faith in God. I love that you are strong in your faith and for sharing that message on the devil (located at the bottom of my profile).**

**f. ****_Pixelized Pikale and Company:_**** My second-most faithful reader (coming after LuvrO'Pokemon). He has reviewed almost all of my chapters, and he has given almost half of the reviews I own. Also has stuck with me for a while!**

**Now then, I don't want to bore you with my thanks (except for maybe the people I am thanking), so let's get on to the story! *hoots and hollers again***

**Hello, this is Pastrinator64 with another chapter from THE GLITCH. Last time on THE GLITCH we watched a very comical scene of Norman and the gang fighting the Zombie Clan's mutant: Zombulk. Norman had to use food items as weapons while being swung at by giant drumsticks. At the end of the battle, ESMERALDA came back as a zombie and defeated Zombulk with Raspberry Ketone Dietary Supplements that made him too skinny to live. Now we watch as Norman and the gang have to fight off the army of the Zombie Clan itself in an equally comical battle.**

**Now, let the story commence!**

_Chapter 25: Norman Takes to the Air_

Norman yelled at everyone to back up. He bought them some time by rolling the giant Raspberry Ketone pill right at the giant wave of zombies. He thought they might all be plowed through, but the zombie in front stopped it with his hands and then pushed it back. Norman was waiting to see what the zombies were going to do since they were part of the Glitch's work, but they didn't seem to do anything that wasn't natural. Esmeralda came forward and headed right toward the zombies' ranks.

"I can't die from these mobs' attacks. Maybe I can talk to them and convince them to let us go; I speak Zombese very fluently." she declared.

When zombie Esmeralda was standing close enough to the zombies, all the sounds in the vast room ceased. The leader of the zombies came forward and crossed his arms.

"Ungh gungh arngon dfa?" said the zombie.

"Grund unghi endkaa mugn." replied Esmeralda.

"Bukg gklid mundugh!"

"Gunkfae eoga moanaghe. Modgg mogdg."

The leader balled up a fist and then smashed it into Esmeralda's skull. This sent a large portion of skin and rotted brain splat onto to the floor, but being a zombie Esmeralda could not even feel the hit. With a piece of bloody rotting flesh hanging over her eye Esmeralda replied with,

"Grunk moaghwia iejagh somaj! Groaknem!"

A lot of zombies gasped. Someone in the back belched. The room was silent. Then, the leader zombie said,

"Grunk mamwojha isognjam! WUAHF! AEIOUYMAGH!"

Suddenly, all of the zombies started moaning and gurgling and grumbling, all moving restlessly. Norman wished that they would become interested in some other food in the whole room, but brains turned out to be the zombies' only desires. Norman looked over at Bailey, and for some reason she was taking something out of her pocket. She pulled out the mini metal cube that was Blackberry, and Norman realized what she was doing. Bailey set the mini cube on the ground and then backed up. He and Bailey watched as the mini cube started clicking and clanking, and the metal plates around it shifted, and parts began to expand from underneath. The noises grew loud enough where everyone else started watching. Within about twenty seconds, Blackberry had turned into the full-sized Mechacreeper.

Blackberry looked at the zombie army and hissed. Then he looked down at Bailey. Bailey responded by jerking her hand at the zombies and saying,

"Blackberry, TAKE 'EM OUT!"

Blackberry looked back at the zombie army made a buzzing sound. Suddenly, grenades began to launch, exploding at random in the zombies' ranks. The leader in front raises his arm and screams,

"WOGHARAK!"

All of the zombies in the army yelled in Zombese with him, and they all started running towards Blackberry and everyone around him. Norman backed up and ran, but Blackberry stayed, shooting grenades. Blackberry targeted the leader—who was identified by his blue skin—and shot out a charged creeper that blew up on the spot. The leader dodged and kept running. The zombies were getting closer, and even all the explosions from Blackberry couldn't keep them at bay. Norman felt someone grab his arm and he found himself positioned on Butterball's back with Bailey in front. They zoomed backwards and Bailey started plowing through zombies fast enough to avoid being eaten. Norman looked back at everyone else behind Blackberry, and he saw them trying to fight off all the zombies at once. Esmeralda was doing the best, and she didn't even get a scratch—then again, she had her Capsule Cannon.

Blackberry couldn't seem to target the leader well enough, so he shot an explosive disk. The disk tracked the zombie leader and flew quickly, zooming over the heads of all the other zombies. The leader looked behind him at the disk, which was merely ten blocks away. He jumped up into the air with just the right timing and instead of being blown to bits he was riding the explosive disk. While riding, he bit through the hard metal and reprogrammed the code flowing inside to track Norman. While Bailey was plowing through zombies, Norman looked back and saw the zombie leader zooming towards him on the flying disk. He tapped Bailey on the shoulder and said,

"Bailey, we're being tailed! That zombie is riding an explosive disk!"

"Ok! You know how to ride a Creeper, right?" she replied.

Bailey turned around and fell backwards to where Norman was sitting while Butterball was still running, and Norman was pushed into the front where some small leather reigns were.

"WHAT?! I CAN'T DRIVE A CREEPER!" he exclaimed while he barely managed to keep Butterball from tripping over.

"You can now!" she replied.

Bailey whirled around and balanced herself on Butterball's back. She targeted the zombie leader in the air and shot at him with a diamond arrow. It whizzed right past the monster, so Bailey shot another. She kept shooting, but all of them kept missing. The leader was closing in now. Norman steered Butterball through another line of zombies, and then he noticed another flying explosive disk heading towards him from the right.

"BAILEY, YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO TAKE OVER AGAIN!"

As soon as he was within reach he jumped up and grabbed onto the edge of the flying disk—so the zombie leader began to track Norman's disk instead. Before he could run into something, Norman climbed up onto the surface and ripped off the metal with Shatter's end. He looked at all the complicated white numbers and letters of code flowing through it and muttered,

"Uhhhhhhh... Um, let's try... This."

Norman pinched a whole line of code in between his two fingers and broke it in half, then placed it in between some other nearby numbers. Suddenly, the disk started making explosion sounds rapidly without actually exploding.

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Norman moved the code around the edge and moved it counterclockwise into the three lines above. The explosion noises didn't stop, but instead the disk lurched forward and went into hyperspeed. He screamed as he felt his face practically peel off and he flew around in random scribbles in the air. With him screaming and the explosion noises and the flying around like a crazy person.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

He was sure that everyone must've been staring at him. Norman grunted and grappled onto the edges of the flying disk. With immense difficulty he put a hand into the code and pulled out just one little number and placed it somewhere near the center. All of a sudden the explosion noises stopped and the disk itself froze in midair, which sent Norman flying into the air, landing face-first in a giant bowl of cold gravy. The zombie leader hadn't expected this to happen, and he tried to reprogram his disk to stop tracking Norman's disk, but it was too late and the two disks collided in midair, killing him in a ball of fire.

After the last of the flame had disappeared, the remaining 27 zombies fell silent. Then they all looked at Blackberry. Blackberry sent them a threatening message by opening up his grenade launchers again with a menacing CLICK. After that all the zombies fled into the darkness beyond. Norman emerged from the cold gravy and swallowed a mouthful of it. He climbed out and Hilary gave him a sponge to soak up all the slimy gravy on him. He looked towards where his group was and saw them all cheering. Some were bumping chests, high-fiving, etc. But Norman wasn't ready to get excited. Most of their team was missing, and they needed to find them. In the meantime, Norman made his way over to the zombified Esmeralda. She looked at him and said,

"Norman! Yes, I know, I'm a zombie. I'll explain. When I was deep-fried in that lava, I went up to the Aether. But when I got there, I was standing on a cloud in the middle of nowhere, and Notch appeared to me. He said that the palace was being attacked by the Glitch, so he sent me back down here for safety, but I had to be turned into a zombie. Oh! Where is Jeff? I have to see him!"

Norman frowned and sighed at the same time.

"I don't know. Most of our group is missing, and we need to look for them. They have to be around here somewhere, Lizzy said that they all came down after me and Stephanie. They must be in some of the giant foods around here. I'm gonna need some help looking, though." he explained.

Norman and Esmeralda gathered up the others and they all started searching. Norman himself headed towards a giant cheeseburger nearby. He lifted up the bun, but there was no one there. He moved on to a giant pig with an apple in its mouth. He sliced open the apple, but there wasn't anyone buried inside. He moved aside the apple and shoveled out a bunch of stuffing and meat inside the pig until it was hollow. He was relieved when he found Danny lying underneath a blob of pig fat. He was sleep eating, gnawing on a piece of pig meat. Norman kicked him and Danny awoke with a start. He grimaced when he saw Norman standing there and said,

"Come on! I was in the middle of an awesome dream. I was in a big field full of hundreds of pigs! I was in meat heaven, idiot!"

"You're inside a giant pig, Danny." replied Norman.

Danny stood up and grumbled as he walked outside. Norman followed behind, and as soon as he was out he saw Danny with his face buried in the side of the giant pig's cheek, consuming meat by the ton. Norman rolled his eyes and looked around for another food to explore. After about twenty minutes, everyone who had been trapped inside the different dishes was brought into the group. When Norman found Jeff stuck inside a giant cherry atop a hot fudge Sunday he helped him down and brought him over to Esmeralda—she was being avoided by people since she wasn't exactly the most cleanly person there being a zombie. When Jeff saw Esmeralda waiting there for him, he ran to her and kissed her on the lips. He could've cared less that she was a zombie. When the two were done drowning each other, Jeff pulled away and gasped for breath.

"Esmeralda! Why are you a zombie? How did you get here?" he murmured.

Esmeralda repeated the same story she had told Norman. When she was finished, Jeff smiled and kissed her again.

"Zombie or no zombie, you're coming with us! Oh, I'm just so happy to see you!"

Without warning, Norman felt as though someone had dumped cold water down his back. Just as suddenly he heard a deep voice echo from somewhere in the darkness.

_"Ah, what a sweet moment. I'm sorry to interrupt, but Esmeralda will not be going with you."_

Norman knew that the only thing that voice could've belonged to would be the Glitch. He whirled around, brandishing Shatter with an intense feeling in his gut. Suddenly, he looked and saw a great mass of droopy black plasma lurch out from the darkness. He dodged the attack, but it went right past him and grabbed Esmeralda, who screamed and smashed the plasma with her fists. Norman was extremely confused, because plasma was a hot gas, not a solid. He ran forward and swung into the plasma mass near Esmeralda, but instead of slicing right through the plasma sliced through the shovel's blade. Norman gasped and backed up, staring at his former diamond shovel that was now a mere stick. He could see inside of the diamond shovel where the code flowed, and it was looking blurred and full of errors. Norman looked around at the virus's drooping limb, brandishing his stick. The Glitch let out a long, deep, evil laugh.

_"Norman, Norman, Norman. Don't you know that I am made of viruses? These viruses inside of me can erase the code of anything it touches, so you might as well throw out that stick of yours, because its data is gone now."_ muttered the Glitch.

Norman threw the useless stick aside, knowing that it would just be another thing he'd have to carry. Esmeralda was lifted up into the air, and she struggled to free herself. She kept ascending up towards the darkness above, and there was nothing anyone could do except watch in terror. Esmeralda stopped above twenty blocks off the ground. The Glitch's voice began to fill with static.

_"This w-woman has not helped the m-m-matter, either-r-r-r. She must be d-d-d-deleted."_

The Glitch's plasma limb curled around Esmeralda until only her head was showing. It crushed her underneath all the plasma and she dissolved into a swirl of jumbled code. Jeff stared with horror at the Glitch's limb as it dissolved itself. The Glitch's tone had even more static than before.

_"I c-c-c-c-c-cannot s-s-s-s-s-stay l-l-l-longer. My p-p-p-prison is k-k-keeping me f-f-f-f-from staying t-t-t-t-t-t-t-to kill you-ou-ou-ou. I w-w-w-will b-b-be back, N-N-N-Norman..."_

The voice echoed for a few seconds, but then faded away. The chill in Norman's spine disappeared, but he was still chilled by the memory of the Glitch's voice. He had never seen the Glitch before, but just seeing part of it made him feel hopeless and scared. He didn't want to see what the rest of the Glitch looked like. He had never had such an urge to get away from somewhere as he did then.

**Oh no! Why does Esmeralda have to be banished from complete existence? Will Jeff be plunged once again into sorrow and anguish? And how will they get out of the giant kitchen/cave? Find out next chapter in THE GLITCH!**

***everyone finishes their bakery goods and then stands up to leave***

***no one really wants to go, but mostly everyone has places to be***

**"I've got to go to Ireland and find my buttery baked potato bomb, otherwise my rivals there will use it for evil! I MUST DO IT FOR ALL THAT IS CREAMY AND YELLOW!" screams butterbrine.**

***butterbrine opens the window next to him and then jumps out, landing on his butterghast and riding away***

**"TALLY HO!"**


	26. Chapter 26: Dinner Parties of a Sort

**Hello, this is Pastrinator64 with another chapter from THE GLITCH. Last time on THE GLITCH we watched as Norman and his friends fought off the Zombie Clan's numbers. After riding a Creeper, flying like a crazy person on an explosive disk and landing in a giant bowl of gravy Norman was finally able to defeat the army. But, just when everything seemed like a happy ending, the Glitch itself appeared in the kitchen/cavern and destroyed Esmeralda's code completely, getting rid of her entire existence. Now we watch as Norman tries to comfort Jeff from his hard loss and two leaders, one good and one bad, host some entertaining cameo dinner parties.**

**Now, let the story commence!**

_Chapter 26: Dinner Parties of a Sort_

While their team tried to find a way out without completely blowing up the place and revealing themselves to more possible zombies Norman tried to find Jeff. But Jeff had disappeared to somewhere. Norman severely hoped that he didn't go off and try to drown himself in pudding or gravy or something because of losing Esmeralda for the second time. He looked around and searched among the giant dishes around him, and eventually he found Jeff sitting among some giant toothpicks.

"Jeff, are you... You ok?" Norman said quietly.

Jeff shook his head and said,

"No. No. Nonononononono! I am certainly NOT OK! My whole LIFE has been NOT OK! MY ENTIRE EXISTENCE HAS BEEN A LIVING NIGHTMARE!"

Norman tripped backwards on a toothpick and landed on his back with a groan. He stood up quickly. Jeff continued with his anger bursts before Norman could say anything.

"If I could take one word to describe this world it would be unfair. It's all unfair. It's unfair that our village had to be burned to the ground. It's unfair that Jonah had to die. It's unfair that Esmeralda had to die, but then come back alive only to be completely destroyed! I hate Notch, Herobrine, Queen Enderdragon and all the beings of Minecraft to the bone. I wish they were all DEAD!"

Suddenly, Jeff lifted his head with a look on his face.

"No, wishing everyone else was dead would be stupid. Maybe I should just die..." he muttered.

Norman gasped and moved forward to be in front of Jeff.

"Jeff, how could you even think that? You honestly think Esmeralda would want her husband to give up and kill himself? No! Of course not! She'd want you to keep going!" he declared, trying to sound encouraging.

Jeff grunted and put his head in his hands.

"She would want me to stay alive, but she doesn't. She doesn't EXIST! She's GONE! Her code is ERASED! I'll never be able to see her in the Aether, because she won't be there."

"Well, what about Jonah?"

Jeff froze for at least ten seconds after hearing his deceased son's name. He looked up at the dark ceiling and muttered,

"You're right. Jonah needs me to stay strong. I need to help you defeat the Glitch; otherwise the Aether will be destroyed by it before we get the chance. You know, if it weren't for the Glitch, you'd be back in your own dimension and we'd all be in our own homes. There would be so many people still alive, and our town would still have a mayor. There would be no danger, no cruel deaths, no nothing. My family would still be alive. OH, DAMN YOU GLITCH!"

Norman helped Jeff to his feet and said,

"Alright, let's just get out of this place."

The two walked—but Jeff sort of stomped, really—back to the group. They hadn't been able to find a way out, so Bailey had decided to take the risk of being discovered. Blackberry shot explosive disks into the wall until they had a hole leading up and out. Norman looked up into the night sky above and judging by the height he figured they were just above the bedrock layer. Then he realized that they must've been an open target for the Glitch being so close to The Void. Bailey decided to have some fun with escaping and everyone had to fly out on the explosive disks. Norman still had some trouble editing the programming, but once he figured out how to bend the code he edited all of the disks so people could fly up.

Someone had the idea to ride the disks all the way to the next clan to save some time, but Bailey said that there were no breaks, so they had too much of a risk of smashing into each other. Once they were out, Danny sealed up the all the openings in the jungle temple they had been underneath. They were still in the jungle, and it was nighttime, and immediately someone got blasted into a tree by a Creeper that Bailey hadn't seen.

_"Great, we've already got an injury and we've barely gotten out of that hole! At least it's not raining, or something."_ he thought to himself.

Norman cursed Notch about three seconds later, because in that time a torrent began to fall downwards. Hilary was the first to take action, and he summoned a large ceiling of sponges above their heads to keep them dry. After people had put down some torches, Hilary put up four walls to prevent any monsters from coming and attacking them. Even though he had lost his diamond shovel to work with, Norman made the dirt floor they were on leveled out for easier movement and someone else chopped down any low-growing trees.

"Alright, since we're stuck here in this sponge structure, let's just get some rest for tomorrow, everyone." declared Norman.

Everyone was pretty tired from the day of underground wandering and being stuffed inside giant foodstuffs, so no one really objected to the idea. Norman walked over and put the possessing cookies from earlier in the group's food chest and then set up his own bed. Before getting under the covers, Norman took out his journal and wrote a new entry.

_Day 14: July 6th, 2415_

_Today was both successful but disappointing. The good news is that we've defeated the Zombie Clan and its mutant: Zombulk. At one point during the battle with those guys I got the chance of flying around on an explosive disk, which was a both thrilling and painful experience._

_The bad news is that the Glitch attacked us while we were looking for a way out of Zombulk's fortress. It had this giant droopy wing-like thing made of black plasma that picked zombified Esmeralda—who appeared to help us, explaining that Notch had brought her back as a zombie—and destroyed her completely. It also destroyed my weapon, and Shatter was reduced to a mere stick. I am weaponless, and Jeff is so depressed about losing Esmeralda a second time that he gets angry about pretty much everything. Obviously, the Glitch likes to consume code like a virus would, but I never expected it to be this dangerous. I fear for my life and my friend's lives as we continue on this journey._

_~Norman Cobweb_

He crawled underneath the warm red covers, but even the warmth and his exhaustion couldn't soothe him to sleep. The Glitch not only destroyed Esmeralda, but it also erased half of Shatter, his only weapon. They didn't even have any diamond yet, so he was weaponless until they did. He was awake for about an hour before he finally fell asleep.

* * *

Deep down in the Glitch's prison in The Void, the Glitch was having small talk with Slenderman.

_"Yes, I just paid a small visit to Norman, and while I was there I was able to erase his weapon. It was actually quite delicious. Not as delicious as zombie Esmeralda, though."_

Slenderman sent a telepathic response to the Glitch, and the monster's eyes widened.

_"How could I have forgotten the dinner? Right, I must organize."_

Although the Glitch had almost no room to move, it had grown strong enough to create extra space and stretch its room through the powers of glitching. It created a large invisible space of anti-gravity for a table. It used its smaller powers to enter the first chest that came into view of the Minecraft Dimension above and created a safe space around the anti-gravity area to protect the good from being destroyed. Soon, it had a whole buffet of apples, porkchops, cooked chicken, and some other foodstuffs. It was all set up for the dinner party. It was more of a dinner meeting, really.

The Glitch was finding it hard to send out evil viruses now that three of his mutants were slain, and it collapsed into a gravitationally formed chair at the head of the table to rest. Kaos and Slenderman sat on his right and left side while the Pig King sat at the other end of the table. Kaos licked his large lips and looked around at the food.

"Mmmm! I'M going to enjoy this!" he declared.

Kaos reached forward and grabbed an apple from a large bowl, but one of Slenderman's tentacles lashed out and snapped at his hand, making him drop it back. Kaos held his hand and glared at Slenderman.

"Hey! What was that for?!"

The Glitch's eyes shut closed for a few seconds and it said,

_"Be patient, my dear friend. We must wait for the others to arrive before we begin. Let us make small talk while we wait."_

So the four made small talk like normal people (not like they even were human). They talked for about five minutes, but then a ripple appeared in the empty space.

_"Finally, someone has come. For this meeting, I did not need to threaten with viruses to gain approval from my old friends."_

A figure jumped out of the ripple. The man was average height but dreadfully skinny. He wore a radioactive protection suit colored white with a green vision space. He wore protective grayish boots and gloves. It was hard to see anything through the vision space provided because the screen was cloudy. The man walked quickly towards the Glitch and said,

"Hola, una vez mas, virus 2.003699132553875962875349590027584726205885701127 501675684276777 no. 7.322 ID: -42 negativo transmision expediente no. -1.333333333."

_"Hello, Profesor Archivo de Datos. I have been expecting you."_

"¿Quién más viene a cenar?" said Archivo.

_"Well, let's just say some old friends will be appearing any time now. I am bringing T.I.D.L.O.P.E. (The Inter-Dimensional League of Pure Evil) back together as you know, and I have invited some most unpleasant villains from the other dimensions to meet. Look, here comes someone now..."_ said the Glitch.

They both looked at the large ripple again and saw it vibrating. A new figure appeared in the prison moments later. This creature was a nine foot-tall mutant turtle-like monster with yellowish scaled skin. The creature had very large clawed hands and feet. He had a green head with flaming red hair, and a very large fanged mouth. It was the infamous Bowser.

Bowser walked heftily towards the gravitationally formed table with all the food. He looked down at the immense amounts of food hovering on the table and his eyes widened, a large grin forming on his face.

"Finally! I've been waiting to have a feast for years now!"

Bowser sat down with a thud in a large gravitational chair and starts to gobble down the food. The Glitch looked around at its fellow villains and took a count. The Pig King, Kaos, Slenderman, Profesor Archivo de Datos, and Bowser. They were all here. So, the Glitch cleared its (throat? does it even have one?) to grab everyone's attention.

_"Please, you all might as well partake now that we have all arrived—even though our friend Bowser has already begun. As we eat, let us discuss the plans that T.I.D.L.O.P.E. will bring to the dimensions of all existence..."_

All of the evil beings began to eat. The Glitch ate a lot itself, but only to consume the code. Code and data was its only source of food. After consuming about twenty cooked chickens at once, the Glitch looked around at everyone eating and spoke.

_"You probably already know the reason why I have invited you here, but I will explain it anyway. I am bringing T.I.D.L.O.P.E. back together. After being put to rest 400 years ago by the rulers of the Minecraft Dimension, I have been working away at the bonds of this magic prison. At the same time, recently I have grown strong enough to put viruses in the different dimensions around me. The first dimension I entered was the 3rd Dimension, and do you know why?"_ asked the Glitch.

Kaos swallowed a chunk of apple and said,

"Because you like annoying people?"

_"No, Kaos, not because I like to ANNOY PEOPLE. I did it because they have the one thing that could destroy me forever, and I had to possess them all before anyone could stop me."_

"And what is this thing?" replied Kaos.

The Glitch became silent. It did not want to think about its own possible death. Suddenly, another person spoke from the back end of the table. The Glitch looked over to see a glowing white pair of eyes.

"So, what are our plans in taking over all the dimensions of the universe?" said the white-eyed figure.

_"My dear friend and ALL my friends here, I am planning on wearing away at this magic prison around me for just a little while longer, maybe another hundred years, but just years in The Void, which will be about ten seconds in all other dimensions. After I have worn away enough, I shall break looses completely and enter ALL dimensions of the universe, swallowing everything in a black hole of endless mutated codes and viruses! You will not need your own dimensions anymore, because I will create a dimension vast enough for just us and all my virus friends that have been trapped and deleted on Earth. We will be the ULTIMATE rulers of the universe!"_

Now that the Glitch's companions were all there to hear, it could finally reveal its full in-detail plans for inter-dimensional domination.

* * *

Meanwhile, Notch was ALSO setting up to host a dinner party. He had a similar idea to that of the Glitch's. The only difference was, he wasn't inviting the universe's nastiest video game antagonists. (That and the fact that he was using actual chairs and an actual table.) Notch placed several chairs (unimplemented) around a grouping of tables (also unimplemented) that formed one large table. Once he was finished, he used several /give commands to put large quantities of food in his hands. He put all the food in bowl blocks to assort them by type. Once everything was set up, he sat down in the chair at the head of the table.

He waited for a while, twiddling with his thumbs. At one point, he turned on the Serverseeker in his head and watched some people on their servers. But when he went to a Hunger Games server called HungerGamesPvPkits, he found that the whole place was deserted. He went to many different servers such as Cookieslap, Zombie Horde, Paradise, Mobicraft, and itsJerryandHarry, but all of them were completely empty. He had forgotten that the beings of Earth were all being mutated except for a small amount of protected souls. Just then, he heard the large wool-crafted gates thirty blocks in front of him open. He looked up and saw Herobrine walking in. He had his hand pressed up to his temple. Herobrine walked up to the table and sat to the right of Notch, flopping down into the chair.

"Herobrine, are you still feeling unhealthy? What is causing your headache?" asked Notch, deeply concerned.

Herobrine held his head in his hands and grumbled,

"I don't know, but whatever it is it had better go away soon, otherwise my kingdom will fall apart without the proper leadership!"

"Would you like me to get an ice block for you?" asked Notch.

"That won't help, ice and both the snow blocks just melt into water particles in my hands." he replied.

Notch and Herobrine were interrupted by the sound of the wool gates opening again. In came Queen Enderdragon. She crawled with her head low to avoid hitting chandeliers above her. She lay down to Notch's left where at least five chairs were missing so she had enough space.

"Good evening, Queen. How have your Endermen been acting lately?" asked Notch.

Queen shook her head in a frustrated motion.

"Not very good. All of my Endermen have been acting so violently lately. A good number of them have been smashing their heads up against my obsidian pillars and others have been just writhing around on the ground screeching. Sometimes I even see them change colors! I haven't a clue what is going on! I had to put my brother Nogardredne in charge of them all while I went away to join this meeting. Thankfully, Nogardredne is very serious with my Endermen, so I don't think I have to worry while he's on the job."

The three rulers talk for awhile about normal things such as the weather for a while, but once again the wool gates open with a click and all three look up. It was the general of the Angry Birds army; Buster.

Buster was pretty old, not always the brightest, and almost always angry unless someone puts spicy enchiladas in front of him—that seems to be the only thing to calm him down.

Also, this bird was large and plump. He was a beige bird, which was invented in 2344 that was rejected because of its unpredictable attacks. The beige bird's beak would turn into a drill when clicked, and would send said bird flying in any random direction, even possibly straight up, and there was no controlling the direction. The drill would slice through a total of six pieces of material no matter what (unless of course the material is the actual terrain) before wearing out.

No one really used it often if possible, because about 50% of the time it didn't go the way you wanted.

Buster hopped up towards the chair next to Herobrine with his bushy gray moustache bouncing as he moved. He hopped up and sat in the chair, his eyes barely reaching the level of the table. Buster looked over at Notch and said,

"Alright, let's get through this meeting! I have an army to command, and my wife had to go and take care of the whole force for me—and mind you, she's a temperamental Might Eagle, so she's a force to be reckoned with. Still, I'm just as angry right now. It is annoyingly tiring to hop everywhere, and I could only take my Super Sling up to the entrance... You wouldn't happen to have enchiladas here, would you?" he asked grumpily.

Notch used another _/give_ command and took ten enchiladas from the Secret Stash down in The Void and gave them all to Buster. Normally he wouldn't take anything from the Secret Stash unless it were an emergency, but anything he needed to do to keep Buster's temper down was essential, especially for their coming meeting.

"So, Buster, how have your battles been going? Successful, I presume?" ASKED Notch.

Buster nodded slowly while wolfing down his enchiladas. With his mouth full, he replied,

"Yessthh, my army hasssth been good for the mosth part. There haven't been very many mishcalculationssth in the... *GULP!* ...Miscalculations in the trajectory my birds have been flying. Most of them have been training up before battles to practice shooting themselves through the air."

Notch nodded and replied,

"That's good."

The gates opened again and in came another figure. This one was a tall man. He was quite thin, but was wearing light blue robes with tiny little twinkling stars and white rims. He had a very aged face, but it somehow stayed alert. He looked very optimistic. He was also carrying a teal staff with an icy blue sphere placed atop, and he wore a silver helmet with sharp horns sprouting from either side. The tall man walked over and sat down in the chair next to where Queen Enderdragon was lying. Notch greeted him and leaned across the table to shake his hand.

"Hello, Eon. I am glad you could make it." he said, pumping Eon's hand up and down.

Eon smiled and said,

"I would not miss this meeting for the world, Notch. How are the things going in your kingdom?"

Notch let go of his hand and put on a nasty scowl.

"Well, the place we are in now is just my secret hideout that is undetectable from anyone and anything. Whenever something urgent like this happens and the Aether Palace is not safe to stay in, I bring everyone here. We had a bit of trouble with the Glitch..."

"You bet we did, mate!"

Notch turned around to see Muttonchop the anthropomorphic cyan sheep walking slowly towards them with Shred in his hand. He still had his diamond helmet on. Muttonchop placed a block of cyan wool in between Herobrine and Notch and sat down on it.

"We were attacked head-on by those idiot viruses! They blew up the palace, disintegratin' it to millions of damn particles! All that's left of the Aether Palace now is a bunch of random floating blocks of wool! Those are the damn worse viruses I've ever seen, mates! You better believe it; those things came from the depths of hell where even The Void can't reach, I tell you!" he shouted.

Eon suddenly had a frown on his face and he was looking at Muttonchop. Muttonchop turned to look at him and said,

"What's wrong with you, eh?!"

Eon shook his head and blinked a couple of times.

"Sorry, it's just that I don't approve very much of cuss words such as those." he murmured.

Muttonchop rolled his eyes and said,

"Oh, right. I forgot that you're dimension is rated _E for Everyone_. You can't even have a bit o' gore or language without going ballistic, can you?"

Eon ignored this comment and turned back to Notch, who asked him another question while also ignoring Muttonchop and his rudeness.

"How is your army doing? Fending off the Darkness still, I presume?" he asked.

Eon smiled and replied,

"Yes, the Skylanders and the Giants are doing very well at keeping Kaos and his Darkness at bay. Although, I have been having some troubles lately with new recruits. We've been having so many different creatures and fighters coming to join our army that we can hardly keep track. The last Skylander I recruited was this mass of tar and sludge named Sludgegut that shot poisonous gunk at enemies, and he got so angry at me for not letting him in that he burned away at the skin of my arm by sticking it to a wall with poison." Eon rolled down the long sleeve of his right arm to show a large bandage stretched across. "I had to invite him in before he got too violent."

Muttonchop put two more blocks of cyan wool behind him so he could lean back. He grumbled,

"And whadda ya know, that bandage ain't got a bit o' blood on it or anythin'..."

Another figure came in through the gates. This man was actually kind of short, and he was wearing a torn blue business that had both sleeves ripped off, making him look rugged. The only odd thing about him was the jetpack fashioned from a large machine strapped onto his back. The man walked forward and sat down in the chair next to Buster, who grumbled a complaint for more enchiladas.

"Barry! How's the family?" asked Notch.

Barry smiled and said,

"Pretty good. The problem is, I never have enough time to be with them. Every time I hit one of those zappers or some rocket comes flying and hits me my jetpack falls off and I have to go back and steal it again. I've really been trying hard to doge all my obstacles and get through so I can escape, but my momentum keeps getting too big. If I can't reach the other end and exit the lab I'll never be able to bring home a jetpack to my proud family. I need to see my kids again. You remember Larry and Gary?"

Notch nodded and said,

"Yes, but the last time I saw them they were very small! How old are they now?" he asked.

"Larry's nine and Gary's sixteen. Gary is already asking me to take him out to get his jetpack license, and Larry has suddenly become very interested in the different jetpacks they have in that lab. He even mailed Profesor Archivo de Datos a couple of letters about some new jetpack ideas like the Tar Jetpack or the Chocolate Jetpack, but I'd bet my money that Archivo rips them all apart."

"I'd like to see them now! They must've grown so much since I last visited your home. And the wife? Is Mary well?"

Before Barry could answer, the gates behind him clicked open. A short, elderly man leaning on an ancient wooden cane hobbled into the room. He was Chinese, and his face looked as ancient as his cane. He was wearing some short grayish robes. The man had so many wrinkles on his face that his eyes were barely visible. The man hobbled up to the table very slowly and sat next to Eon, who unlike him looked very alert.

"Ah, Sensei! I am so glad you could come!" said Notch.

Sensei looked over at Notch and rubbed a hand through his dry gray hair. He then started fiddling with his very wispy goatee.

"I am glad I could come too... I do not believe that it would be proper for me to miss this meeting, as I attended to the last one..." he murmured quietly in a tired voice.

Sensei held out his hand making a coconut appear. Suddenly, it cracked open at the top a few seconds after he positioned it in both hands. He then took out a lime and held it over the open coconut. He put the lime in the coconut and drank them both up. After finishing his drink, he put his hand on the empty coconut shell with the lime inside and both disappeared. Sensei thrust his hand at the table in front of him and about twenty strawberry smoothies appeared before him.

"Would anyone care for a smoothie...?" asked Sensei.

Everyone took a smoothie, and Queen Enderdragon just drank the remaining thirteen. While they were doing so, Notch asked Sensei a question merely to attempt conversation.

"How have your ninjas been lately? Slicing those fruits with ease, I suppose?"

Sensei's face gained about ten more wrinkle lines as a smile spread across his face.

"Ah, yes... My fruit ninjas have been doing very well... Did I ever tell you why they are there to slice fruit?"

Notch nodded and said,

"Because you said that the flying fruits resembled the attacks of other enemies and their weapons, and that those were the easiest objects to use because of your fruit summoning powers?"

"Yes, but recently since our last meeting about the Glitch I have hired a scientist by the name of Professor E. Gadd—who is a very good friend of mine, by the way—to invent a mechanical weapon powered by the high sugar and sodium quantities found in fruits. He has finally finished it, and I have been collecting all the juice my fruit ninjas created by training in a giant glass container, and when the time comes I will pour it into the tanks of the machine, giving us a form of defense that should last for a few days based on the amount of juice produced so far. I just mentioned this because we might have to resort to my machine if necessary. He calls it the Fruit Firearm 5000; too much of an alliteration, if you ask me." explained Sensei.

Barry piped up across from him and said,

"You know, I have a Fruit Jetpack that shoots different fruits to propel itself, so I guess that fruit power can be useful in multiple ways."

Buster grumbled with his eyes closed, nearly falling asleep.

"Alright, when can we just start dinner and begin the meeting? Who else do we have to wait for? Wait a minute... Notch," Notch turns around and sighs, already knowing the question that would come next. "You didn't invite HIM again, did you?"

Notch frowned and said,

"Oh come now, what do you have against him?"

Buster gritted his teeth and ground them angrily.

"Well, he's fat, he's attention-hungry, and he hits his head on bricks (that just proves he's an idiot). He's just... He's, he's..."

"IT'S-A ME, MARIO!"

The famous plumber in red himself walked in through the door in his usual blue overalls and red trademarked cap. Mario walks over to the table and sat down with a smile on his face. He then started to speak in Italian so no one understood him.

"Come sono tutti gli altri-a fare? Bene, spero?"

Buster grunted and then said,

"English, please?"

Mario rolled his eyes and spoke in a heavy Italian accent, only this time in English.

"How is everyone else-a doing? Good, I hope?"

Everyone nodded and murmured in agreement. Notch smiled and said,

"So, how have things been going in your dimension?"

Mario took a mushroom out of his pocket and sniffed it.

"Well, Bowser has-a taken a vacation to some far off island, I suppose-a. We haven't seen a single scheme of his in a long-a time..."

"Why do you have to say a after every five words in a sentence?!" grumbled Buster.

Mario chomped down on the mushroom and suddenly shrunk down to a squat little midget. Mario grumbled and took out another mushroom.

"Oops! Another poison mushroom! I keep-a misplacing the good and bad shrooms! There we go-a!"

Mario ate the other mushroom and was restored to his full height—which still wasn't much anyway. Mario turned to Notch and said,

"Al-aright! I'm-a sorry for my late arrival-a! May we begin-a?"

Notch nodded in approval and all the cameo heroes began to feast. Now that everyone was there, Notch could get down to business.

**I love cameos, don't you? Will Notch find out about the Glitch's secret meeting? Will the Glitch find out about NOTCH'S meeting? And what kind of powers will all these cameo heroes and villains bring to the Minecraft Dimension? Find out next chapter in THE GLITCH!**

***before anyone can leave the bakery a small dragon made of white chocolate runs up to the table and jumps on top of Pastrinator64, licking his face***

**"Hey! It's Doughbelly from my story! How'd you get here?" Pastrinator64 asks Doughbelly.**

***suddenly, Quinn also runs into the bakery and picks up Doughbelly***

**"Bad little dragon! I told you not to go running off!"**

**"Hey, it's Quinn, also from my story!" says Pastrinator64.**

***Quinn looks at Pastrinator64 with very confused eyes and says,***

**"Wait, what?"**

***the fourth wall shatters***

**(Psst, I would just like to make an important announcement. The all-week posting has ended, and I will now continue with posting on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday for each week. Thank you, and goodbye for now! :D)**


	27. Chapter 27: Nonfiction Science-Fiction

**Hello, this is Pastrinator64 with another chapter from THE GLITCH. Last time on THE GLITCH we watched two very entertaining cameo dinner parties with both the best heroes and villains from the other video game dimensions, each talking about how to defeat the other side in the war. Also, Norman tried and failed to comfort Jeff on his loss of Esmeralda for the second time. Now we get back to the view of our good friend Mr. Clarence Jordanship, the President of the United States of America as he attempts to travel to Germany on a secret mission to find Professor Explotar's corpse for DNA extraction.**

**Now, let the story commence!**

_Chapter 27: Nonfiction Science-Fiction_

I sat in Markus Persson's office for a long time, waiting for a report on the previously heard data to be delivered to me. The coffee was quite good; two shots of espresso, two creams, two sugars. I looked to my right to see the painting of George Washington that we had recently placed on the wall and I thought to myself,

"I wish that my presidency was not so difficult compared to yours. You never had to worry about viruses of any sort."

A few minutes later there was a knock on my door and John Clearwater came into the room holding some papers.

"Good afternoon, Mr. President, sir. Landon Barrel will be coming in here to discuss the plans because he thought it too important to be written. He will be here in roughly three minutes to converse." he explained.

My Vice President dropped the papers on my desk and slid them around for me to see.

"These are the all the data files that he's collected and organized. Now, I'd stay but I've got to go to lunch soon with the Speaker of the House. Goodbye."

I waved goodbye and Clearwater left the room, closing the door behind him. I looked down at the papers. Unfortunately, most of the data I did not understand very well because I myself was not a scientific genius. But, I'm sure that Landon Barrel will be able to help explain. As predicted, three minutes later Landon came into the room holding the exact same papers. He sat down in a chair across from mine and smiled.

"Good afternoon, Mr. President, sir. I have all the data we can access processed. I know that you were not always the best in scientific research and processing data files, so let me explain as simply as possible."

He flatted out his papers in front of him and peered at all the data. First, he pointed to a small graph in the bottom right-hand corner that's line zoomed to the right at an immense rate. He pointed to the numbers on the y-axis and said,

"Each of these separate numbers stands for a single millisecond." he pointed to the numbers on the x-axis. "And these numbers show how fast the virus has been traveling through data files' codes all around the US ever since it first appeared." he pointed to the bright red line that was stretched far towards the right. "This line represents the ratio of milliseconds to distance in the code. This line shows a ratio of 1:64,000,000,000, which means in a single millisecond this virus is traveling through 64,000,000,000 individual program code files, and there are many different kinds out there, but apparently THIS virus melts through all of them like butter no matter what the program is."

Even though I wasn't very familiar with the data I definitely understood what he was saying. This virus was traveling at an alarming rate, and NOTHING could stop it. Landon cleared his throat and patted down his orange suit.

"So, my lead scientists have proposed a new plan on how to stop this virus. They propose that we take the DNA from the deceased Professor Explotar's brain and genetically insert it inside one of our own scientists and engineering the DNA to give us the memories of creating the E.S.C. supercomputer that deleted all those viruses years ago. We hope to harness the information and create an improved version of the E.S.C. to seek out and absorb the virus. It may sound like science fiction, but it's the best shot we have to getting rid of this bug once and for all."

I processed the plan in my head for a minute or two, but then looked at Landon.

"And where can we find his DNA? If we do find it, will it be too old to use?"

"Well, to answer your first question, Professor Explotar wanted to have his body preserved when he died, so when he did die some preservation professors from Germany came and first checked his body for any more viruses, but then brought him to Germany's preservation morgue west of its capital; Berlin. We must set up a flight aboard Air Force One, a trip of roughly 1,082 kilometers. Not very far, but Air Force One would be the safest decision." suggested Landon.

I nodded at the idea and then sent of Landon to the T.O.L.O.A.S. (The Official Lab of American Science) to research more on the data. I then slipped my cell phone from out of my pocket to contact Anna Wilson—my flight scheduler—to find a time for us to leave in under two days. When she answered, she said,

"Hello, Mr. President, sir, when can I schedule your flight? What destination, what time, what distance?"

"I need a flight schedule in under two days, and my destination; Berlin, Germany, and as soon as possible. The distance is roughly 1,082 kilometers. I am going to be traveling with the Landon Barrel and the six Secretaries of Science from the D.O.S. to extract some DNA from a VIP that for certain reasons I shall not specify." I replied.

"Yes, Mr. President, sir, I will see what I can do. Expect your answer by tomorrow morning. Thank you, goodbye."

She hung up, and I shut off my cell phone and slipped it back in my pocket. I just sat back in the reclining leather chair, thinking about the virus, wondering if we would EVER put a stop to it. After a while of sitting and thinking, I realized that it was already night. I looked at the digital clock to my right and saw that it was 10:00 PM. Normally, I would've had a conference or something to go to, but ever since we went into hiding I haven't gone outside of the Mojang building much. I stood up and walked down the hallway, followed by my usual bodyguards, and found myself in my bedroom. Lenore was sitting there on the bed, my wife. She smiled at me when I walked in.

"Honey, did you have a good day? Or at least better than yesterday?" she asked.

I sat down on the bed and held her hand, but then I sighed with exhaustion.

"No, there's only been bad news. I've been shown the data on this virus, and every bit of information we know, but nothing gives us a clue on how to address the problem. Landon Barrel proposed some DNA extraction from the preserved body of Professor Explotar, but I don't think that it will do any good." I said.

Lenore lay down on our bed and said,

"It sounds like science-fiction to me."

I lay down with her, too distraught to bother changing out of my clothes.

"Landon claimed that it was nonfiction science-fiction." I replied.

I crawled underneath the covers of the bed and kissed Lenore on the cheek. She smiled at me, but still with a concerned expression.

"Honey, I know you'll do fine. This virus is not the end of the world."

I lay flat on my back and sigh.

"Well, the way things are turning out it might be sometime near in the future." I muttered.

I felt to my left for the light switch. I flipped it down and the lights turned off. I kissed Lenore one more time and murmured,

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Clarence."

* * *

I woke up the next morning with a pain in my back; wonderful, the perfect way to start the morning. I pushed myself out of bed, it was about 5:00 in the morning. I let Lenore sleep, trying to be as quiet as I could while I brushed my teeth, combed my hair, and put on my best clothes. I walked out of the room silently, and was instantly swarmed by bodyguards.

"Good morning, Mr. President. We have been instructed to bring you down to the runway this morning. Your ride to Berlin, Germany has been scheduled for 6:00 AM this morning. You will need to get there early before the flight." explained the bodyguard to my right, my good friend Adam Mansfield.

I walked with the rest of my bodyguards down some several halls for a while until we had reached a back door. Adam Mansfield opened the door and gestured at his men, who all took out their high voltage, heat seeking tasers called MSGs (Magnified Shocking Gun). I walked with my bodyguards down the runway, occasionally glancing at the hundreds of tanks and helicopters surrounding the area. Just like last time I was out, we weren't going to take any chances. I walked down the runway for a couple more minutes, and then soon Air Force One came into view.

Before walking up the steps to the door I had to wait for a moment while they took down the transparent deflector shield formed in a giant sphere around the plane. Once it was shut off I was able to step through without being fried, and I found myself climbing up its glossy steps in no time, and in an instant I was inside the main hub.

Even though I was the president, I still had to go through some security checks, so before I even had gone ten meters I was scanned by at least ten security x-rays. Once I was through, I stepped through a door and passed many people on Microputers, about ten on each side of the hallway. All of them were taking security checks and checking several machine parts through the computers—which the 65th President of the United States, George Manhuman, had invented to make checks on Air Force One much easier.

I exited the hallway after a couple of "hellos" and "good mornings" and then sat down in the meeting room in my reclining luxury chair. My bodyguards came in and placed themselves around the walls of the room. I was waiting for my companions to appear, and not ten minutes later they all came through. In through the door came my Vice President John Clearwater, General Chase Newman, Landon Barrel, the Co-Secretary of Science Penelope Flemming, and Anna Wilson.

They all sat down in chairs around the room and we formed a neat circle. A man came through the door a few seconds later with a notepad and pen.

"Would anyone in here like a refreshment?"

Everyone including I just ordered some coffee and the man ran off to carry out the orders. We talked casually about business for a while, but after about a half hour an announcement came on the speakers from our head pilot saying,

"ATTENTION ALL ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE, WE ARE NOW READY TO TAKE OFF, SO PLEASE BUCKLE YOUR SEATBELTS."

We all did so and about a minute later we felt some bumping and rumbling, but soon later it stopped and we were free to take off our seatbelts. Now that we were in the air, Landon Barrel explained to everyone else in the room who hadn't already heard of their plans in Berlin. When he was finished, he turned to Penelope.

"Have you got the gene gun we're going to be using for extraction?" he asked.

Penelope nodded and said,

"Yes, it is stored away in the cargo hold for when we land."

The man came back in the door at that time and brought us our coffee. From that point on we talked normally again, and after about three hours we were being told to buckle our seatbelts again for landing. Once we were safely on the ground, I stood up out of my chair and began to walk with my coworkers down the hallway. I exited Air Force One into the bright sunlight and climbed down the steps. We were at a private German airport in Berlin, so no one would bother us.

Nothing suspicious whatsoever happened as we walked down the runway towards the airport building, and I think that we were doing fine up until I saw the twelve or so gunmen heading towards us. My men reacted instantly and all of them shot their MSGs, but when the electrified needles pierced the skin of the gunmen coming towards us, all of our MSGs disintegrated. The last thing I remembered was being shocked with a blast of sickening poison before I blacked out.

**Oh, Poptart! Who were the gunmen who attacked the president? Who has sent them, who is out to kill him? Will he ever escape from this terrible kidnap?! Find out next chapter in THE GLITCH!**

***Pastrinator64 is forced to break the laws of the fourth wall-and maybe even the fifth-and explain to Quinn that his life is a lie***

**"Well, basically... I created you, and you're the character in a story I'm writing. Actually, I'm not really the creator, right now our words are being typed up by my Author, who's name just happens to be Pastrinator64. So, you don't REALLY exist..."**

***Quinn's eyes grow wide and he says,***

**"WHAT?! ...That's wicked! I've always known I was being watched! There must be an alternate universe where this Author dude lives! I wanna go see him!"**

**"Yeah, I don't think that's physically possible..." replies Norman.**


	28. Chapter 28: The Unforgivable Mistake

**Hey everybody, I apologize for the chapter absence yesterday, I had a big project for school plus several other homework assignments, so I was not able to get around to posting. But, here I am now! Let's get started, then...**

**Hello, this is Pastrinator64 with another chapter from THE GLITCH. Last time on THE GLITCH we watched as the President of the United States went through all the data files found on the Glitch, but it seemed that the only significant thing they could find was that this virus was traveling faster than any other one before. He concocted a plan, and his plan was to retrieve the creator of the Glitch-Professor Explotar of Florencist University, California- and extract DNA from his body to find out how to reverse the creation of the virus. Now we get back to Norman and the gang as Norman commits a mistake so unforgivable that he is haunted by his nightmares long after.**

_Chapter 28: The Unforgivable Mistake_

The next morning, Norman woke up to a rustling noise from outside. He sat up in bed, and then looked around, but remembered that they were still in their sponge structure. Everyone else was asleep, so Norman stood up as quietly as possible and secretly borrowed Lizzy's diamond sickle. He walked towards the wall behind him and slowly broke open one block. He gasped and fell backwards after finding himself suddenly face-to-face with a pair of empty sockets. He backed away on his hands and knees and then stood up, and realized that it was a skeleton. Norman grinned and taunted the skeleton by blowing a raspberry at it. The skeleton shot an arrow, but Norman just easily dodged it and went back into its view. Suddenly, the arrow turned around in midair behind him and pierced into his skin on his back.

Norman gasped in pain and fell to the ground, wrenched out the arrow in his back and stared at it in his hand. He looked back up and saw the skeleton still looking at him, and then was shot at by another arrow. Norman barely dodged this one, and he turned around to see it also changing direction in midair to hit him. Norman stood up and started sprinting, panting heavily as the arrow tracked him. His feet pounded on the flat grass inside the sponge room and after a few seconds Danny woke up behind him, and he for some reason had all his diamond armor on. Before Danny could yell at Norman, the arrow pursuing Norman ricocheted off his helmet and lodged into the sponge roof. Danny fell forwards with a grunt and got a mouthful of grass. Norman snuck up around the edge of the hole and quickly closed it with the sponge again. He looked around at Danny, who was lying face down still.

Norman walked up to Danny's still body and murmured,

"Danny? Are you ok? Hello?"

With warning, Danny lurched forward and clasped his hands around Norman's neck, forcing him to the ground with one painful jerk.

"NOOBMAN, I AM GONNA KILL YOU! WHAT THE HECK WERE YOU THINKING BY SHOOTING THAT ARROW AT MY HEAD, YOU IDIOT?! YOU KNOW THAT COULD'VE LODGED IN MY NECK!"

Norman could barely understand what Danny was saying because he was preoccupied with trying to breath. He was grabbing at Danny's meaty hands around his throat, and he didn't have any way to take a breath to save his life. In the commotion, a bunch of people had woken up and were running towards the scene. Norman caught a blurry glimpse of who he thought was Jeff kicking Danny hard in the face.

"DANNY! STOP CHOKING NORMAN OR I'LL SEND YOU OUT THERE TO BE EATEN ALIVE!" exclaimed Jeff in a very frustrated tone.

Danny let go of Norman, who collapsed onto his back, staring straight up at the ceiling, out of breath completely. He slowly looked over at Danny, who was now having a severe bloody nose for the second time in two days. Jeff threw one of Hilary's sponges at him and then ran over to help Norman up. Once Norman was up and he had his breath back, Jeff brushed off the dirt and grass covering his clothes.

"Norman, explain what exactly happened here." he muttered.

"Ok, I woke up and heard this rustling sound outside, and I broke open a hole in the wall to check and saw a skeleton. I borrowed Lizzy's weapon since my own... Well, you know... I dodged the first arrow, but it just whizzed back at me unexpectedly and I got hit in the back." Norman turned around to show him the pierce in his clothing and the arrow's bloody mark. "Then when that thing shot a second arrow that one tracked me too, and I started running around the room to avoid it, but I woke up Danny in the commotion because the arrow bounced off his diamond helmet. Then he pretended he was hurt, but then tackled me to the ground and tried choking me to death. The Glitch's glitches are just getting worse." explained Norman.

Jeff scowled and looked away.

"Worse? That's impossible. We've already slain three of the Glitch's mutants and clans, so how is it that when it became weaker the glitches became stronger?" he grumbled.

"I don't know."

Suddenly, a squeaking noise was heard from Norman's left. He looked in the direction of the noise and saw the tracking arrow stuck in the sponge ceiling moving. Suddenly, a pop occurred and the arrow came right out of the sponge, and zoomed forward to track Norman. Jeff moved his sword into the path of the arrow and it ricocheted off the blade, doing a loop-de-loop backwards before zooming forward in under a second. The second quick impact knocked Jeff to the ground, who quickly flattened himself to avoid having his nose sliced off.

Norman started running again, scattering people who had woken up, causing chaos. Norman suddenly ran right at the arrow coming towards him and then slid down. Everything turned to slow-mo like in the movies, and Norman watched at the pointed projectile slowly flew over his head, so close that it sliced off a few of the hairs on his head.

Everything went back to normal speed and Norman jumped up from the ground, hurling himself forward as fast as his legs could carry him, Shine swinging in his arms. Norman looked behind him for a split second to see the arrow just starting to turn around, but it that time he ran straight into Lizzy. They both fell to the ground on top of each other. Lizzy screamed, and Norman looked back to see the arrow coming towards him at high speed. He quickly summoned a box of cobwebs around him while on the ground and the arrow suddenly slowed down in midair, struggling to go through the cobwebs. Kelly Fern took the opportunity and caught the slow-mo arrow in an empty bottle. She took the bottle and screwed the cap on tight to make sure the arrow wouldn't free itself.

Norman destroyed the cobwebs around him and pushed himself up off of Lizzy. He was about to grab her hand to help he to her feet when he heard her screaming and crying, wailing at the top of her lungs. Norman's mind numbed up when he saw the blood-soaked gash stretched from Lizzy's forehead, through her right eye—which was gouged and gory—and all the way down her cheek and to her chin. Norman must have slashed her by accident with Shine when they collided. Jeff ran forward and said,

"Oh my Notch! Someone get this girl some medical attention! She is hurt severely! Somebody grab some porkchops!"

Many people rushed forward with meat and Hilary with many sponges. All the while, Lizzy was just bawling and screaming in pain, and every tear from both eyes were hot drops of blood. Norman was the only one to not rush forward and help. In fact, he just walked backwards absentmindedly, his mind numb and cold from the incident. He slowly looked down at Shine in his hands, which was now bloody all the way down the blade, and his hand covered in the liquid. Norman gripped the handle so hard that it hurt, and in his anger he yelled out and threw Shine to the side, which landed with a soft thud near the wall. Norman ran towards the wall and punched away two blocks of sponge, and then ran out quickly. He hurtled through the jungle, away from his companions, his anger and despair boiling up together inside. His eyes were full of tears that he did not bother wiping away. Norman ran through the jungle for a long time until his hunger had gone down enough where he couldn't sprint anymore.

Norman burst through some vines and landed on the soft sands of a beach. He just lay there, catching his breath, crying, feeling angry and frustrated and hopeless, constantly replaying the horrific image of Lizzy's wounded face in his mind. Norman lay there, wishing he would drown in his own tears to end his misery. He eventually sat up and wiped away the crust forming in his eyes from all the drying tears. He looked off into the sea that stretched before him, watching squids float lazily through the water. But every time he would see the red gaping mouths of the squids he would think of the blood that soaked Lizzy's face, and he remembered that HE was the one who had caused it. It was HIS fault he was out there alone. HE was to blame for probably killing Lizzy, his best friend who had stuck with him since he was in preschool.

He started having painful flashbacks of times with him and Lizzy. He saw the day that he and Lizzy had won $100 in the lottery in 3rd grade and then spent it all on Snickers bars, eating half of them that one night and totally going nuts. He saw their 6th grade play where he had played the mayor of Whoville and her as Gertrude the one-feather-tail bird in the Seussical and how she had gotten so hyped up on sugar they both fell off stage due to her tackling him and fell into all the pizzas for the party, splattering everyone with sauce. Then he saw the time just recently when Lizzy had brought him to Cocoa Beach to see her secret hideout, but he had grown tired of her fun at that point. All of a sudden Norman started wishing he had been a better friend, that he hadn't been such a stiff guy. He wished that he could've done more now that Lizzy was probably already dead and he'd never get the chance.

Norman suddenly found his hand reaching to his neck and he caressed the silver chain of Lizzy's good luck charm. He found more tears in his eyes very soon.

Norman would've been sitting there thinking and regretting for a while if he hadn't heard the sound of a boat hitting the sand. Norman looked up and was very surprised to see a boat looking three times as long as a normal boat. To his greater surprise he saw Professor Pigson step out and walk towards him.

"Why so sad, young chap?" he declared, balancing on his gold-topped cane.

Norman stood up and brushed the sand off his clothing.

"Uh, Professor Pigson. This is a surprise. What are you doing here?" he murmured.

"Well, I was just taking a daily ride in my canoe. I know you might be busy with your cognitively stirring ponderings, but could you help this old chap back to his village? My arms are dreadfully tired, you see." he said.

Norman sighed and said,

"Sure, why not..."

Norman walked forward and hopped into the boat, followed by Professor Pigson. Once they were both seated, Norman gripped the two oars and began to row off into the ocean.

"Turn left and then just go straight, thank you." said the professor.

"So, um," said Norman awkwardly. "Is Professor Sheepson doing ok right now? He seemed very sick and drained when we last visited."

The professor shook his head and said,

"I do not know what is wrong, but some kind of sickness has spread over him. I think that now that our world is being threatened by that dreadful virus everyone calls the Glitch that he is always worried for his life. Doctor Squids gave him some medicine mods to help, but he remains sick at the moment. Thank you for asking, though."

After a few more seconds of silent rowing, Professor Pigson looked thoughtfully at Norman and finally said,

"So, what is on your mind, young chap?"

Norman shrugged and grumbled,

"Nothing."

The professor smiled (wait, can pigs smile, even if they're anthropomorphic?) and said,

"Well, there must be SOMETHING on your mind. 'Tis impossible to think of nothing, and even by thinking of nothing you are thinking of something. Tell me, why do you appear so distressed?"

Norman didn't answer for a while, but after a silent twenty seconds he finally snapped.

"I ran away from my friends, that's all..."

"Why would you perform such an imprudent motion? That could impinge on your comrades in an unconstructive manner if you are not vigilant." said the professor.

Norman didn't really want to reply, but he couldn't get himself to stop talking.

"Well, something happened with one of my best friends, and now I don't think I can repair the damage I've done." he murmured.

"Oh, you can ALWAYS seal the painful gap created in a relationship. The right thing to do is tell your friend just how sorry you are for whatever you did and to make sure that they can feel your sincerity." suggested Professor Pigson.

"Well, I don't think that I can repair what I've done for this situation. I've already hurt my best friend enough where I don't think I'll ever be able to talk to her again..."

Professor Pigson's eyes widened and he said,

"Her? So this is a girl we are speaking of? Alright, I am not going to have you tell me all the details, but I do have a question for you. Do you love this girl?"

Norman paused for a moment. He thought about it for a little while. Lizzy was definitely his best friend, his only friend for a while, but he never thought about it that way. But as his hand went to her Poptart good luck charm he realized that the answer was yes. He looked up at the professor, who was waiting patiently for the answer.

"Yes, I believe I do." said Norman.

The Professor leaned forward with his cane in both hands and his face turned serious.

"Would you sacrifice your life for this girl?"

"Yes, I would."

"Then what you need to do is go to her and express your love. You must show her how much you care for her to get her to see your true self. Do not run away from her, because that will only impact her life negatively. If this girl really does love you back, then right now she is missing you. She is longing for you to come back so she can see you."

Norman stayed silent, running over this knowledge through his head. He realized that he did want more than anything to tell Lizzy he loved her, but the injury he had given her kept coming back to poison his mind. As if the professor could read his thoughts, he said,

"I know you may be feeling doubt due to the previously occurring incident, whatever it may have been, but no matter what happened you must forget the past and look to the future. Keep moving forward."

All of a sudden they bumped into the shores of another beach. Norman looked up and saw the mini village they had visited previously sitting about forty blocks away. Professor Pigson sighed and stood up, and Norman helped him out of the canoe. Once the professor was standing on solid ground again he waved to Norman.

"Thank you for the help, young chap. I never caught your name, though, what was it?"

Norman shook hand-to-hoof with the professor.

"Norman Cobweb."

"Well, Norman, I hope to see you in the future. Now, remember my words of wisdom whenever you feel despair on the subject. You may keep the canoe; I believe that these rides by myself are taking a toll on my back, as I am getting older. Now then, farewell, boy. I will see you some time in the future." he declared.

Norman waved goodbye and watched as Professor Pigson walked gracefully down the sands towards his village. Once he was out of sight, Norman began to row back into the ocean with his new canoe. With the help of Professor Pigson's knowledge he kept himself going forward; he had to find his friends.

**Thank Poptart for Professor Pigson has such knowledge! Will Lizzy ever be able to forgive Norman for his mistake? Will Norman ever be forgiven by his teammates? Will Norman even ever forgive HIMSELF?! Find out next chapter in THE GLITCH!**

***Pastrinator64 stands up from the table and says,***

**"Alright everyone, now we really do need to leave, I have to be back home for... Certain purposes..."**

***Pastrinator64 walks towards the door but LuvrO'Pokemon stops him by grabbing his shoulder***

**"What kind of purposes? Care to share with us?"**

***Pastrinator64 looks nervous all of a sudden***


	29. Chapter 29: Magnets and Monsters

**Hello, this is Pastrinator64 with another chapter from THE GLITCH. Last time on THE GLITCH we watched as Norman tried to dodge two different homing-arrows from a glitched skeleton, having to borrow Lizzy's diamond sickle-Shine, if you remember-to fight. The first one was unexpected, and lodged in Norman's back, but the second one he ran from, and in the process of running he smashed into Lizzy with Shine, slashing a bloody gash across her face. He ran, memories flashing through his mind, but when he was found on a beach by Professor Pigson he got in his canoe and they talked. Now we watch as Norman puts Professor Pigson's knowledge into action as he searches for his friends, desperate to make his apology.**

**Now, let the story commence!**

Chapter_ 29: Magnets and Monsters_

Norman rowed for hundreds of blocks, passing the occasional squid. After a long while of rowing, he started taking damage and realized that his hunger bars were completely gone. Norman frantically looked at his hotbar and thankfully found a couple of porkchops. He ate three of them and restored his hunger, and then kept on rowing. Norman eventually found a small island with a village, which he decided to stay in for the night. Norman jumped out of his boat and looked out into the sea, but there was no sign of the beach he had fallen onto from earlier.

Norman sighed and walked into the village, passing a couple of villagers now and then. Most of them spoke a language unknown to him, so he just tried to ignore most of them. Norman found an inn near the back of the small village—a building added in version 26.33 in 2049. He entered the inn and approached the innkeeper, who was wearing some silver and blue robes.

"Magna cciaam iemnan?" he asked.

Norman shrugged and just put what he had on the front counter, just three porkchops. The innkeeper looked at the pieces of meat and then back at Norman.

"Are English?" he said.

Norman sighed with relief and said,

"Ok, good. You actually speak English?"

The innkeeper nodded.

"Yes, small English. Three porkchops good for one night, but no food. All I can give you."

Norman sighed again and replied,

"Well, it's good enough."

The innkeeper took the three porkchops and then pointed to the room behind him.

"Room three to left. One night."

Norman thanked the innkeeper and headed through the doorway, then turned left. He followed the signs and eventually found a tiny 3x3x3 room with a bed and a small window. He looked outside to see the sun setting quickly on the horizon. Norman crawled underneath the covers and tried to fall asleep. But then he remembered that he had to write in his journal to keep track of his days still. Then he realized that it was in his Blockpack, and he automatically sat up and felt behind him, finally noticing that his Blockpack had been with him the whole time. Norman set his Blockpack in front of him and looked through it for anything else he had. Inside were four cooked chicken, his diamond armor set, the Golden Eye, the Boomstick, Tanglera's Leg, the Brain of Rot, and his journal & feather pen. He sighed with relief when he saw the Boomstick sitting there, because he thought that it had disappeared forever when Zombulk ate it. He also thanked his lucky stars for having his Blockpack and then took out his journal & feather pen and flipped it open to the next page. He wrote...

_Day 15: July 7th, 2415_

_Today could be the absolute worst day of my entire life. Even worse than the time when I had a full stack of 64 diamonds in one of my files in Minecraft and then got blown up by two Creepers. I got attacked by this homing-arrow skeleton, and one got lodged in my back, which now stings like heck. The other ALMOST sliced my nose off, but Kelly trapped it in a bottle._

_But worse than that, I ran into Lizzy with Shine in my hand while running from the second arrow and I created a lethal, bloody gash across her face that even gouged her right eye. I think she is dead, but I don't know, because in my anger I ran away and all the way out of the jungle to avoid the terrible scene. It still scars my mind with the image._

_I fell onto this beach, but then I was surprised greatly when Professor Pigson appeared on a canoe. He asked me to take him back because of his aching arms and back, so I did. On the way he enriched me with his knowledge for my problem, and he's given me plenty of things to think about. I am going to put his knowledge into action and make sure that if I find Lizzy and she's still alive that I am sorry beyond comprehension and that I love her. Future Norman, if you are reading this, I admit that I am being cheesy, but I'm sure you understand._

_~Norman Cobweb_

Norman put away his journal and then set it down next to his bed. He inched underneath the plain red covers and tried again to fall asleep. Since every time he closed his eyes he could see Lizzy's gored face, it took him over an hour to fall asleep.

* * *

That night he had the strangest dream. Norman found himself walking through an abandoned mineshaft, just wandering. He didn't have anything with him, and everything was dark. He turned a corner was suddenly blinded by a sudden white light. He saw a pair of glowing white eyes about ten blocks down the pathway, but he could only see the eyes, almost as though it was impossible for the light to reflect off of the person's body. But Norman knew the only person those eyes could've belonged to was Herobrine. Herobrine spoke in a very chilling voice, almost like the Glitch's but not quite as deep.

_"Norman Cobweb, I have been sent by Notch to deliver these two items."_

Norman looked down in his hands and saw that he was holding two different items. One was a block, which looked like an iron block, but with a half-red/half-blue magnet pattern on each side. The other was a half-red/half-blue magnet, and it made his skin tingled when he held it.

_"I give you the magnet block and magnet. These two objects must be used to defeat the Glitch, for magnetism is the only way to kill a virus effectively. Fasten the magnet and magnetic block together, and then fasten the result onto your weapon, no matter what the weapon may be. This will allow you to use magnetism in battle, which will be necessary when fighting the Glitch. Use them wisely, and do not let us down, Norman Cobweb. The fate of all dimensions rests in your hands..."_

Norman gasped when he saw another pair of white eyes appear next to Herobrine's without warning. Before he could understand who the second may be, Norman felt himself drift off into darkness.

* * *

Norman woke up in a cold sweat, breathing hard. He quickly snatched up his Blockpack and searched through it, then got a small shock. Carefully, he pulled out two items that were the magnet block and the magnet. The magnet block looked like it did in the dream, and same as the magnet. Norman looked behind him out the window and saw that the sun was just barely beginning to come up, so he turned around to look at the items in his hands. He wasn't sure how to do it, but he knew that he had to somehow connect them together. Norman grunted and held the block in his left hand, and then took the magnet in his right hand. He pressed down hard with the magnet right-side-up on the top face of the magnet block, pushing as hard as he could. Suddenly, a couple static bursts appeared and then Norman gasped after electrocuting his finger. He sucked on it, trying to heal the burn, and then looked at the two items, which were now fused together into one. Norman decided to name it the Magnomatic because that was the only name he could think of.

Norman held the Magnomatic in his hands and it glowed with a silver energy. It actually looked pretty cool. Suddenly, he looked up and fell backwards, hitting his head on the glass. The innkeeper was standing there, tapping his foot impatiently.

"One night." he muttered.

Norman quickly stood up and grabbed his Blockpack, walking out of the room. Once he was outside of the inn, he waved goodbye to the innkeeper and walked out into the street. He sat down on the gravel road and took out two cooked chicken, which he gobbled up instantly. After that, he looked out at the horizon and saw that the sun had just cleared it. He had to get going. He walked over to the edge of the village and stepped onto the edge of the sand. He placed his canoe in the water and hopped inside. Norman began to row, reminding himself of Professor Pigson's words: "Keep moving forward." to stay confident.

The song "Boulevard Of Broken Dreams" by Green Day began to play in the background.

Norman rowed for hours and hours, pondering about his dream. He wondered most about the second pair of glowing white eyes that had appeared. He wondered if Herobrine possibly had ANOTHER brother that was a secret. Norman finally found land again, and he recognized that it was the same beach that he had met Professor Pigson in his canoe on. Norman took back his canoe and swam the rest of the way onto the land. He kissed the ground for a moment—and had to spit out a mouthful of sand—and then ran off into the direction of which he had run from. He crashed through the vines, jumped low trees, climbed over slopes. He kept running until he burst through a wall of vines where their open clearing was. Norman was relieved when he saw that their sponge structure was still there. He broke open an entrance in the sponge wall and entered, expecting to see everyone there waiting for him. But he was wrong.

The whole structure was deserted. All the chests and beds were taken away. Everyone was gone. The placed was completely abandoned. Norman just stood there for a moment, but then collapsed to the ground crying, pounding his fists on the hard ground. He was there for a while, and eventually he just fell silent, with only the blood in his head pounding, boiling hot. Norman decided he had to find them yet, so he stood up and walked outside, and then jumped up on top of the structure from a low tree branch. He looked out into the jungle, but there was no sign of them anywhere. So instead he walked forward and looked for some kind of markings, and quickly found a manmade path through some trees and vines stretching west through the jungle.

Norman jumped down off the sponge structure and started running through the path, thankful for it being there so that he could run without stopping to break blocks in his way. He ran for about ten minutes nonstop until he exited the jungle and entered a swamp. He looked around for some sign of the path, but it had gone flat. Norman looked around once more, and then noticed some floating leaf blocks near him with a few saplings on the ground.

_"Aha! They must've been here recently."_ he thought.

Norman looked to his left and stepped back, noticing a large manmade cave in the side of a large slope. He looked inside but saw no one, and he figured that they must've stopped overnight.

_"They would've stopped overnight and then woken up in the morning to get going. But something must've held them up before they left, because otherwise these leaf blocks would have been gone by now."_

Norman walked forward once more and picked up the saplings on the ground, and then punched away the rest of the leaves. Then he noticed something else lying on the ground not far from the tree. He walked forward and looked closely. It was an iron sword, half used. There were also several arrows wedged into the ground and trees all around this particular tree. Norman picked the sword up and examined it. It was splattered with blood, and Norman figured that it was Hilary's, since he owned an iron sword. Something or someone must've attacked them, and Norman knew it was obviously skeletons. Once he realized this, Norman quickly set his Blockpack on the ground and opened it up, taking out the Golden Eye, which gleamed in the sunlight. He looked through into the pupil and he saw an ocean with a pirate ship made of bones sailing quickly across the water. The title read: _"Mutant 4: Skull and Crossbows"_. The obvious pieces of the evident puzzle came together; Norman's friends were captured by the Skeleton Clan.

Wasting no time Norman held out the Golden Eye in his hands, and it swerved around to point northeast. Norman started to run, but about three seconds later he stopped. He took off his Blockpack and looked through it, eventually pulling out Tanglera's Leg. Norman found himself gaining a grin as he placed it on the ground and it stretched to its maximum length of seven blocks. He hopped on top of it and then pushed forward, and it zoomed northeast as the speed of creative mode flight. Norman found himself hollering like a cowboy as he zoomed along the border between the swamp and jungle. He would've been having a lot more fun if his friends weren't in danger.

**I can tell you almost forgot about Tanglera's Leg, didn't you? Will Norman be able to find his friends? Were they really captured by the Skeleton Clan? If so, will he be able to fight them off before his friends perish? Find out next chapter in THE GLITCH!**

***the next thing Pastrinator64 knows he is bound by rope to a chair in the bakery***

***his friends all shoo out the customers and workers, then turn off the lights***

***a lamp turns on in front of Pastrinator64 and he squints, seeing luvr standing over him, all his friends behind her***

**"So, now that we're in private, let's hear about those CERTAIN PURPOSES, shall we?"**


	30. Chapter 30: The Foulest Man Alive

**Hello, this is Pastrinator64 with another chapter from THE GLITCH. Last time on THE GLITCH we saw Norman backtrack in order to find his friends and give his deepest apologies. But, he finds the sponge structure they had been living in to be gone, and his friends were on the move. He follows the trail and ends up with some clues at the edge of a forest, and they lead him to suspect that his friends have been captured by the Skeleton Clan and their mutant: Skull and Crossbows. Now we watch as Lizzy is being held captive in the clan's ship while Norman tries to find and rescue her.**

**Now, let the story commence!**

_Chapter 30: The Foulest Man Alive_

(Dear reader, if you want to read this chapter with a much better experience then look up the song "Awake and Alive" by Skillet. Listen to it; it'll make the scene seem so much cooler. Thanks!)

Indeed they had been captured by the Skeleton Clan. The clan itself was actually a group of the most bloodthirsty pirates ever to sail the ocean; the Bloodboned Buccaneers. The whole bunch were skeletons, each with their own crazy personality, each of them evil, and each of them bloodthirsty. They were the smallest clan at just nine skeletons. Soon the group found out that the skeletons could not die, and Blackberry had been taken away in his small cube form and thrown in the ocean, everyone else had been held hostage. Amazingly still alive, Lizzy, though, was thought to be a monster with her misshapen and scarred face, and she was taken away to be put behind bars in the prison hold. She was alone.

Lizzy whimpered feebly as Slash brought her down to the prison hold at the bottom of the ship. Slash kept an iron sword close to her neck as he pushed her along. Once they had gone low enough, Slash poked her in the back with his blade and said,

"Ok, this'll be your new home, CREATURE!" he shoved her inside. "Heheheheh, don't let the RATS bother you! Not to worry, you won't be completely alone; you have a roommate to keep you company! HAVE A NICE STAY! HAHAHAHAHEHEHEHEH!"

Slash ran out of the room, his bones clicking and clacking all the way. Once Lizzy was alone, she started thinking. She still couldn't speak with her injury, and with half her face covered in sponge bandages she couldn't see or hear very well. But she did hear the door slam shut, shutting out about 90% of the light in the room, the only light remaining being the candle up on the wall.

Lizzy sat down on the cold and bony floor and started to cry. She wondered where Norman had gone. When they were attacked they could've won with Norman there, but no one knew what to do without him. He may have been able to save Kelly Fern from a painful death by Clack's bony chokehold. He may have been able to prevent Captain Gore from snatching Blackberry in cube form and throwing him into the ocean's depths. She wished that he was here to save her. She was definitely angry at him for wounding her so badly, she was angry that he ran away, but at the same time she knew that she needed him.

But suddenly, a voice from behind uttered from out of the darkness.

_"Please, little girl, please do not cry..."_

Lizzy jumped up and whirled around, wishing she had Shine to protect herself. A dark figure emerged from the shadows and became visible in the candlelight. It was a man, very tall, deathly skinny, long arms and legs. He was soaked in his own body fluids, reeking of vomit and urine. He was very dirty, grime and blood covering his arms and legs, his feet were cut up and bloody and several toes were cut off. He wore a torn set of black robes that showed his gored and grimy stomach and chest, which had peeling skin and was yellowing. His face was the worst; one eye gouged, the other milky white. His hair was shaggy and greasy, dripping with a mix of oil and blood. His mouth held a set of broken and missing teeth, yellowed and full of tartar.

He walked forward and touched Lizzy on the shoulder, who backed up against the bars. He smiled, showing off his yellowing teeth.

_"Why do you cry? I am a prisoner too."_

Lizzy could not so did not answer. She just stared at his disgusting body, feeling sick and scared. He moved forward a step, and that was enough to engulf Lizzy in his stench.

_"It's not so bad down here. You look like a fine specimen for my tastes."_

Lizzy moved around him to the other side of the room, backed up against the walls in the corner as far as possible. He walked towards her and touched her shoulder again. She could not move from her position to keep his hands off her body.

_"Please, trust me when I say that it is much better down here with me. I'd love it if you'd stay."_

He put two hands on her shoulders and rubbed her arms slowly. Lizzy slapped his hands and pushed past him, standing in the middle of the room, her back turned. The man smiled again and walked forward, caressing her back.

_"I haven't had a visitor in a long time. Wouldn't you please stay?"_

He began to circle around Lizzy, checking out every part of her body. She did all that she could to keep herself from bursting into tears again. His hands scratched and stroked around her torso slowly, and Lizzy couldn't stand it anymore. He crouched down and put his lips close to her ear, whispering,

_"Just give up your body to me and your troubles will be solved, little girl. I don't want to miss out on your beauty. Please, I am so lonely here."_

Lizzy felt his grimy hand come around hers, and finally she turned around and smacked him in the face with her fist as hard as she could. The man staggered backwards and landed on the splintery wooden bench in the back. Lizzy felt something hot splat against her arm, and she looked to see that a bloody chunk of his scalp had landed on her wrist. She flung it off in disgust and looked at the man, who was walking towards her with a smile. He looked even more horrific with the flesh missing from his cranium.

_"Ooh, you're a feisty one, aren't you? I think I'll have a lot of fun here with you..."_

In Lizzy's mind she was begging Notch for help.

_"Notch, if you can hear me, please bring Norman here. I'm scared..."_ she thought.

* * *

At that same moment, Norman had just found where the border between the swamp and jungle met the ocean's border. Norman had a sudden sickening feeling in his stomach, and he suddenly fell off Tanglera's Leg—which zoomed off in random directions—into the sand, breathing hard. He didn't know what it was, but he felt a sudden strange feeling of danger and illness. Norman lay there on the ground, and only the feeling of being run over by the out-of-control Tanglera's Leg running over him twice in a row snapped him into reality.

Norman grunted and stood up, quickly jumping back to avoid being run over a third time by Tanglera's Leg. He punched the end of it and it popped back into item form. He walked over and picked it up, still trying to shake the strange feeling in his stomach. He had a feeling that Lizzy was in danger, in danger, but alive. Norman ran the rest of the way down the beach to the each of the sands where the water was. He looked out at the open sea but did not see the ship. Norman took off his Blockpack and brought out the Golden Eye. He held it out in both hands and it spun around to face straight into the ocean. Still, there was nothing within sight.

Angry, Norman took out the Magnomatic and jerked it at a nearby squid, which flew up into the air, and he sent it flying about fifty blocks away into the swamp. He stood there for a moment, but then looked down at his Magnomatic. Suddenly, an idea popped into his head. A crazy idea, but a worth-a-try idea.

He dug away at the sand right by the water so that the water flowed into the small trench. Soon a squid came along and was sucked inside, completely immobilized by the current and small space. Norman put sand in the entrance of the trench where it met the water so that the squid was just stuck in the one-block space of water. Norman walked around and pointed the Magnomatic at the squid, and suddenly he was sent flying backwards, propelled far away by the magnetic current between the iron content in his blood and the iron content in the squid's blood.

He flew about fifty blocks away until he collided with the blue ocean's surface again, submerging deep. Norman let himself float up to the surface and he took a breath. He looked out into the distance while treading water and could barely see the beach anymore. He turned around to face the other direction and was relieved when he caught a glimpse of the giant bone-crafted, blood-soaked ship nearby. Norman swam slowly, conserving his energy until he reached the boat.

Norman thanked the fact that the boat wasn't moving as he gripped onto cracks in the boat's base. He began to climb up the bone wall until he was able to just see over the rail. He was silent as he looked around for his friends. Norman slowly stepped over the railing and then took a small step onto the deck. His second step wasn't as smooth though, because his foot broke through the floor and bones that were connected together by solidified mob blood broke apart, bones clattered everywhere. Norman heard a yell from somewhere on the vessel and he quickly pulled his foot out and ran behind the captain's quarters to hide.

Clicking footsteps occurred as the whole Bloodboned Buccaneers crew came out onto the deck. The grunt of the group, Clack, came forward and noticed the hole where Norman's foot had broken through.

"Captain! There's a hole here!"

Captain Gore came forward through the crowd of his crew. He was as big as a Wither skeleton but had the same look as a skeleton. He held his poisonous bow in one hand and used his other to reach down and rub the surface around the hole. He then held up his bony hand to his eyes and inspected a drop of blood. Norman looked down and noticed that his pant leg was torn near his ankle. He didn't even realize that he'd been cut. Captain Gore's eyes widened and he curled his hand into a fist.

"A human! This is no mob blood! Another human has secretly climbed aboard the Blood Vessel! Men!" his crew straightened up and got into a line. The captain pointed at two taller skeletons, Clack and Snap. "You two go down to the prison hold and keep an eye on the prisoners." he pointed to Slash, who shouldered his iron sword excitedly. "Slash, keep an eye on the creature in the lower cells." he pointed to the other five skeletons in his crew. "Slice, Pierce, Gouge, Ill, and Fred, you search the ship for the stowaway, he must be nearby somewhere. I will be in my quarters, waiting for a discovery..."

Norman backed up and went all the way around the captain's quarters until he was directly behind it. He crouched low and silently broke open a block of bones, which took a little while but was worth it. He broke open two more down and then placed them above to seal away the hole. He kept digging down until he found a hole leading into a room. The room was dark, but he could hear voices.

_"Mmmhmm, you're a pretty little girl, aren't you? I cannot believe how NORMAL most of your body is. I'd love a body like yours."_

Suddenly there were footsteps. A small amount of light flooded the room and Norman watched silently as Slash came down into the room. The light showed that the room was a prison hold. Slash walked up to the cage where the creepy voice had come from.

"Hey, monster! Having fun with your roommate?! HAHAHAHAHEHEHEHEH! Just coming down to look for a stowaway who came aboard the Blood Vessel; I know he's hiding here somewhere..."

Norman broke the blood/bone block below him so that his head didn't reach the hole to the room. He didn't have time to make another hole going downwards and then cover up above him, so he just crouched and held his breath. He heard the clattering footsteps come towards the hole, and when he looked up he saw. A bony hand come through, groping around to grab him. Norman crouched as low as possible to avoid the hand. He looked down at Lizzy's Poptart good-luck charm and whispered to it for good luck to remain unnoticed. Finally, the hand stopped and pulled back through, and Norman let out a silent breath.

"Not in there, I guess..." muttered Slash.

Norman jumped up and placed a block beneath him so he could look through the hole again. Slash had his back to him, and he pointed at a door to his left, saying,

"Alright, I guess that he's not hiding in here, so I'm gonna go check the booty room! Sit tight, CREATURE! HAHAHAHAHAHEHEHEHEHEH!"

Slash went through the door and closed it behind him. Norman was about to break open the block at his waist to get into the room when the creepy voice spoke again.

_"Right then, where were we?"_

Norman heard whimpering coming from the cage. He suddenly realized it was Lizzy. She was being mistaken for a monster with her gored face, and Norman sighed in relief when he realized that she was still alive. Norman broke open the block in front of him and ran into the room. He went up to the cage and looked through to see Lizzy lying on the cold floor with her clothes dirty and tattered. A tall and disgusting man was standing over her with his hands outstretched.

"Hey!" shouted Norman.

The man turned around and looked through the bars at Norman, and then he grimaced, making his face look even more distorted.

_"Get out of here! Back away! I am having too much fun playing with this little girl's body to be interrupted!"_ he murmured.

He started to laugh manically and then moved closer to Lizzy, who was backing up against the wall on her hands and knees. Norman hacked at the bars with Hilary's iron sword and after about three slices they broke open. Norman jumped forward and sank his blade into the man's chest, dark and infected blood spilling everywhere. Norman looked at Lizzy, who had half her face covered in reddened bandages. Her one showing eye was crying. He grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the bars. As they ran through the room to the stairwell, he said,

"Lizzy! Who was that guy?! What did he do to you?!"

Lizzy just started crying again, her chest heaving. She had healed enough to speak, and through shallow breaths she managed to choke out,

"I'm n-not g-g-going to talk ab-bout it..."

Norman and Lizzy ran up the stairwell and stopped at the room above. It was the second prison hold. They heard cries from the cages, and Norman looked to see that it was the whole gang, trapped behind bars. Norman ran forward and ended up at Jeff's cage first. He sliced open the bars and Jeff came out quickly, weaponless and dirty.

"Norman! Before we get into any kind of discussion about your disappearance, let's get everyone off this ship!"

Jeff quickly went off to free the next person. Norman nodded to him as he went and turned around, but found himself staring straight at the pointy end of an arrow.

**That was darn-right creepy! Did anyone else get the shivers back there? Will Norman meet his end by an arrow to the face? Will he and his friends be able to escape the bony clutches of the Skeleton Clan? And who was the clever fellow who came up with the name Blood Vessel for their ship? (Which was moi :3) Find out next chapter in THE GLITCH!**

***Pastrinator64 struggles in his bonds and says,***

**"None of your business, I can keep my... Own matters to myself, thank you..."**

***luvr walks around him and says,***

**"You seem like you have a very interesting secret you wouldn't like to share. I'd like to know it, it might be as interesting as I would hope..."**


	31. Chapter 31: Skull and Crossbows

**Hello, this is Pastrinator64 with another chapter from THE GLITCH. Last time on THE GLITCH we saw a highly disturbing chapter where Lizzy was sexually harassed by a creepy prisoner below decks, where she was put after being mistaken for a monster with her wounded face. Norman finally found the ship-named the Blood Vessel-and freed her and the rest of his friends. Now they find themselves face-to-face with the Skeleton Clan, soon to battle their mutant: Skull and Crossbows.**

**Now, let the story commence!**

Chapter_ 31: Skull and Crossbows_

"No prisoner comes aboard the Blood Vessel and escapes with their lives!" said the skeleton who held the bow and arrow to Norman's face.

Danny, who was freed the moment after by Jeff came out and said,

"So, people die and THEN jump off as corpses? That's just stupid."

The skeleton with the bow—Pierce—pointed to Clack and said,

"Clack! Silence the fat one!"

Clack came over and grabbed Danny, putting his hands behind his bad and locking them together with a pair of skull handcuffs and then putting a bloody cartilage cloth around his mouth—yuck. Pierce turned back to Norman and said,

"Alright, what makes you think you can just come onto this ship and do whatever you want, huh?"

Norman suddenly had an idea and slowly began to inch his hand down towards his pocket. Pierce started to monologue, completely oblivious of Norman's movement.

"If you think you can climb aboard the Blood Vessel without permission from Captain Gore then you are DEAD WRONG!"

Norman's hand went into his pocket and he felt around for the Magnomatic.

"I'm gonna give you three options, kid..."

Norman quickly located and took hold of the Magnomatic, slowly taking it out of his pocket.

"One, jump the plank with a cube and chain stuck to your ankle, two, be killed by me or anyone else in the crew..."

Norman slowly lifted the Magnomatic out of his pocket and ever so gently pointed it up at the arrow in Pierce's bow.

"Or three, take your matters to the captain himself! What's it gonna be?"

Once Norman had the Magnomatic positioned in his hand perfectly, he replied,

"Number four, blast you out of the ship by sending a magnetic current between my Magnomatic device and the metal of your arrow, making sure that you scream like a little schoolgirl."

Before anyone could even process what was going to happen Norman jerked the Magnomatic forward and Pierce's bow and arrow flew backwards, dragging Pierce with it as they both smashed through the boat's wall, screaming like a little schoolgirl. Norman looked out and saw Pierce land about fifty blocks away in the water.

Norman turned around and smiled at the dumbfounded looks on the rest of the crew's faces.

"So, anybody else want a try?"

Slice raised his bow from the other side of the room and declared,

"GET THEM!"

Arrows began to fly everywhere as the entire group ran for cover. Norman tossed Hilary's iron sword to Jeff—since he was much better with a sword—and used his Magnomatic to deflect the oncoming arrows. Many of the arrows ended up cutting up and slicing through the bars of the cages around them, and soon everyone was free. Even without weapons, people ran up and tackled and fought the other skeletons with whatever they could use, scattered bones, pieces of meat, even Hilary created a sponge shield for himself.

Finally, Butterball decided to come forward and swelled up behind the six skeleton pirates by sneaking silently around them, blowing up and sending their bones everywhere, scattered in different directions.

Everyone began to stomp down and try and crush as many bones as possible. But not four seconds after they had done so did the bones start to move around by themselves. Norman watched in horror as the skeletons came back together without a scratch. Norman's eyes squinted and he jerked the Magnomatic at Snap, who flew out the side of the boat into the water far away. With two holes in the boat, water started flooding through.

Norman shouted to his friends to get up higher. He stayed and deflected the oncoming arrows to protect his friends as they ran up the stairwell. Once they were all up inside, Norman ran and entered the stairwell, placing as many bone blocks as he could behind him to block of the last six skeletons. He thanked the fact that Slash was still at the very bottom of the ship, searching around for him unknowingly.

Norman thought that they were home free until he stopped in the middle of the stairwell and realized that everyone's weapons and supplies were where Slash was in the booty room. He had no choice but to begin digging down through the ship again. Once he reached the booty room he took a scan of the room to make sure that Slash was nowhere nearby. He wasn't so he must've gone back up just then.

Norman broke through the wall entirely and broke open all of their chests, storing everything in his Blockpack. Thankfully, his Blockpack was able to hold everything they had. He kept all their weapons in his hotbar so he could hand them, out above. Norman ran quickly back up to the deck to hand out the weapons.

But when he got there, he saw that Captain Gore himself was standing there, his Wither sword pressed up against Lizzy's neck. His bow wasn't out, but it was hanging from his belt buckle, ready to be used. Without weapons, the rest of the group was just standing back, hopelessly watching Captain Gore. Norman jumped up onto the deck and ran in front.

"Hey!"

Captain Gore smiled and looked at him.

"I wouldn't attack if I were you. One sudden movement and your friend here will die. Am I clear?"

Norman froze and looked at Lizzy. She was shaking her head, muttering,

"Norman, just kill him. I'm not worth it..."

Norman held out Magnomatic threateningly.

"Let her go or I'll blast you away."

Captain Gore laughed. He laughed for at least ten seconds, but then his face turned dead serious.

"That's not how it works, son. If you even make one sudden movement, even before you can send me away this blade will pierce through her skin. Now then, hand over your weapons and surrender. Otherwise, she will die. There is not another choice."

Captain Gore pressed a little harder on Lizzy's neck, a blood formed around the sword. Norman stood there for a moment, his own blood in his head pounding along with his heart. Finally, he realized that there truly wasn't anything they could do, so he sighed and tossed Captain Gore the Magnomatic. The captain caught in his free hand and smiled, chuckling evilly. Norman threw all of their weapons at his feet, and Captain Gore stared down at them and his smile grew even more.

"Now, let Lizzy go."

Captain Gore looked at Lizzy and waited for a moment. Then he smiled and said,

"No. I think she'll be happier back down in the prison hold with our other prisoner once I bring him back alive."

Norman's eyes widened with anger and he yelled as he launched himself at the captain. But the captain jerked the Magnomatic right at Norman and he was hurled backwards. He slammed into the main mast and fell onto his back. He curled up in pain and listened to Captain Gore's evil laughter. Jeff ran forward and helped Norman to his feet.

"Norman, we need to get out weapons! But how are we going to slow him down?"

Norman grunted and said,

"I'm working on it." he stood up and walked slowly back through the crowd of his friends. "It looks like I'm gonna have to use my "useless" powers again."

Norman walked forward and stopped at the front of the crowd. His back burned and his head hurt but he was determined to not go down without a fight. The captain laughed again and said,

"You must be stupider than you look! I suggest you and your friends raise up your hands and surrender."

Norman knew what he had to do and quickly made a move to go forward, but instead of actually running he placed two cobweb blocks around Captain Gore, who went into slow-mo as his skeletal hand was raising the Magnomatic. Norman walked forward and plucked the Magnomatic out of his skeletal hand. Captain Gore shot a slow-mo poison arrow, and Norman backed up when he saw the poison melting through the cobwebs like butter.

Before the arrow could get through Norman ran back and handed out all of their weapons. Just as he handed out the last weapon Captain Gore broke through the cobwebs and ran forward. Norman blasted the arrow far away. But it turned around in midair near the back of the Blood Vessel and zoomed back towards him. Norman had forgotten that the arrows were heat-seeking.

Just then the rest of the Bloodboned Buccaneers rushed out onto the deck with their weapons ready. At that moment a battle began.

Norman jumped forward and sent the captain flying backwards, and then deflected the homing arrow, sending into Fred the skeleton's kneecap, who was nearby. He broke through the door leading to his quarters and landed on his chair with a grunt. Norman dodged about three different arrows a second later, and blasted one into Clack, which lodged into his forehead, knocking it clean off his shoulders. Norman jumped to the side and deflected two more arrows, both poison arrows. He ducked as an iron blade came zooming over his head and then turned around while crouched down, sending Slash's blade flying off the ship.

He stood up but then ducked again to avoid more flying arrows. Norman whirled around in a circle, sending a magnetic force to blast all oncoming arrows to their senders. One of the arrows knocked Gouge off the ship and into the water, but his bow just landed at the edge of the ship's railing. Norman jerked forward and grabbed the bow, and began to shoot with extra arrows that he picked up from the ground. Unfortunately, he was very clumsy with a bow, and he ended up shooting an arrow that stabbed Danny in the butt. He turned around and swore at Norman about three times, and Norman moved to the other side of the ship.

Suddenly, Ill and Fred—Fred with the poison arrow still stuck in his kneecap—jumped forward in front of him, blocking his path. Norman held his bow threateningly. The two skeletons looked at each other, and then Fred shot an arrow that knocked the bow onto the floor behind him. Norman decided to have fun with magnetism and made Ill and Fred slam into each other and then entangle themselves with their own bones. While they were distracted he ran in the other direction and jumped into the main battle again.

But as soon as he was in front, he heard a scream. He looked to his side and saw Lizzy running away. He looked back up and gasped, because now floating above him was a giant skull and crossbones. It was 10x10x10 not including its bones. Its bones weren't actually bones, but instead giant poisonous crossbows. It was the Spider Clan's mutant: Skull and Crossbows.

The crowd around him fled to shelter as the mutant hovered closer towards Norman. Norman jerked his hand up and tried blasting Skull and Crossbows, but it only moved back a single block in distance. Skull and Crossbows cackled and then spoke with a voice exactly like Captain Gore.

"YOU DON'T THINK YOU CAN ACTUALLY DESTROY ME, DO YOU?! I AM STRONGER THAN THE MECHACREEPER, TANGLERA, AND ZOMBULK! I AM THE STRONGEST—ASIDE FROM THE LAST MUTANT, OF COURSE. I AM STRONG ENOUGH TO RESIST YOUR PUNY MAGNETIC CURRENTS!"

Norman realized that it WAS Captain Gore, but in a different form. Two of the giant crossbows pulled back magically and created arrows to launch. Norman jumped back and barely dodged two monster-sized arrows dripping with poison.

To make matters worse, it began to rain and Norman's vision decreased. Skull and Crossbows' laughter drowned out even the pounding of the rain and the thunder. Norman quickly picked up the previous bow that he had lost and shot an arrow at Skull and Crossbows. It just lodged into the bone and disintegrated. Skull and Crossbows laughed again and flew forward, cutting through the air like a jet.

Norman ducked and ran out of the way to avoid two more giant poison arrows. He shot three more arrows into its skull, but still it did nothing. Skull and Crossbows whirled around in midair and began to charge up two more arrows. Norman pulled back to let another arrow, but he slipped on the wet ground and his arrow shot off before he was ready. While on his back he heard Skull and Crossbows scream and yell in pain, and he stood back up to see that the arrow had cut through the cord on one of its crossbows.

Norman backed up as a different poison arrow was shot at him. He had an idea and pulled back a new arrow, which he shot at the other cord on Skull and Crossbows' other good crossbow. It missed, so Norman first dodged another arrow and then shot one of his own. It missed for the second time, so he pulled back with his VERY LAST ARROW. Thankfully, third time's the charm, because it sliced right through the cord.

Skull and Crossbows continued to screech in pain. Then it flew forward suddenly and started trying to crush Norman with the crossbows themselves. Norman eventually was backed up against the main mast, and his only choice was to start climbing the ladder. As he went up the ladder, though, Skull and Crossbows destroyed the blocks below him rapidly. Once he was at the top, all that was left floating was the crow's nest.

Skull and Crossbows flew slowly into Norman's view. Norman backed up against the railing of the crow's nest as Skull and Crossbows began to hover closer. Norman could hear shouts from his companions below, but he couldn't make out what they were saying. Skull and Crossbows raised both of its crossbows, ready to knock Norman over the railing to a painful death. Norman closed his eyes and braced himself for the impact, but after five seconds it didn't come. He opened his eyes again and gasped, because now in front of him was Captain Gore, clenched in the Glitch's plasma wing-like limb. Before he could process the scene, Captain Gore disappeared into the plasma, dissolving into a blurred jumble of his own code.

**What the Poptart?! How did the Glitch reach their ship in the middle of the ocean? Why did it destroy its own mutant, destroy one of its power sources? Will the Glitch bring Norman to a painful death? Find out next chapter in THE GLITCH!**

***luvr whisks out something from her pocket that Pastrinator64 can't see***

**"Well," she says, walking back around. "I have a special tool here that should ease the information out of you. Care to try?"**

**(Psst, if you'd like make a suggestion for some kind of device she'll be using. It can be anything, anything at all! Thanks! :D)**


	32. Chapter 32: Lizzy's Lament

**YAAAAAAY! *Pastrinator64 performs a happy dance, knocking over several items in the room* YAHOO! HOORAY! HALLELUJAH! I received a whopping 13 reviews, 11 of which occurred just while I was at school! I'd like to thank a ton of people, all of which have helped me reach this height of reviews!**

**a. ****_LuvrO'Pokemon:_**** My very first fan for my first fanfic, THE GLITCH. She's stuck with me since I started, and hopefully with my upcoming stories as well. Also the one who told me about the ItsJerryandHarry server.**

**b. ****_Vykktor:_**** The one who introduced Fanfiction to me and the one encouraging me as I write.**

**c. ****_Striker Hutassa:_**** Another faithful fan who's not been around as long as LuvrO'Pokemon but still a great fan to have.**

**d. ****_AerionsRealm:_**** One of my regular fans, one of the most matured writers I've seen. Even more thankful, the one who sent me his chapter via PM so I could take a look even though I couldn't be a beta reader. Thanks for the honor!**

**e. ****_hunter415:_**** Also one of my regular readers, but one who I admire for his strong faith in God. I love that you are strong in your faith and for sharing that message on the devil (located at the bottom of this page) with me. Thank you.**

**f. ****_Pixelized Pikale and Company:_**** My second-most faithful reader (coming after LuvrO'Pokemon). He has reviewed almost all of my chapters, and he has given almost half of the reviews I own. Also has stuck with me for a while!**

**g. ****_gin ketsuiki:_**** Another one of my most faithful fans, one who has been on a 24-hour story watch for my chapters. I very much appreciate the many reviews she has given me throughout this story, and is my second-most frequent reviewer, falling just under Pixelized Pikale and Company. Thanks, gk!**

**I am having a huge party, so in celebration of my 100th review I will be posting a chapter for today, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and next Saturday! So, for the rest of this week and all of next week make sure you're on a 24-hour story watch like my friend gin ketsuiki!**

**Now that I've partied till I dropped, which was actually literally because I fell off my chair and practically had a concussion, I'm guessing that you're ready to read on! Well, let's continue, then!**

**Hello, this is Pastrinator64 with another chapter from THE GLITCH. Last time on THE GLITCH we watched Norman and the gang fight off the Skeleton Clan, or as they call themselves, the Bloodboned Buccaneers. But then, Captain Gore was revealed to really be the Skeleton Clan's mutant: Skull and Crossbows. But, just as Norman was doomed to die by a giant poisonous arrow, the mutant was destroyed by some of the Glitch's plasma, which had appeared from nowhere and for a reason unknown! Now we watch as Norman and his friends are being doomed by the Glitch, about to be sucked down through a vortex of plasma that once was the sea!**

**Now, let the story commence!**

Chapter_ 32: Lizzy's Lament_

Norman was so surprised that he walked backwards right over the railing. As he was falling he caught a glimpse of the ocean around him, which had turned to a sea of swirling black and red plasma. He found himself landing on a very soft surface, and he figured that it was just him dying and coming into the Aether.

But when he opened his eyes he was blinded again by rain. He felt someone grasping his hands. Norman stood up and looked down, noticing that he was standing in a pool of water. Hilary was standing in front of him, helping him to his feet.

"Norman! You took a pretty bad fall there!" he muttered.

Norman nodded absentmindedly and then made his way over to the edge of the ship. He peered out into the sea of plasma, and a few seconds later he saw a whirlpool forming near the ship. The whirlpool of plasma stretched until it was connected to The Void below. The vortex's hole was as big as the Blood Vessel itself, and bit by bit the vessel began to float around in a circle, slowly inching towards the hole.

Norman quickly ran towards his friends, who were all panicking and running around either screaming or breathing heavily. All except Lizzy and Jeff, who were just standing there, looking dumbstruck. Norman yelled to get everyone's attention and then ordered them all to run down into the lower decks to be safe. Everyone agreed except for the other two, who ran up to Norman with their weapons at the ready.

"Norman, I'm NOT leaving you! We'll do this together!" shouted Lizzy as she tried to get her voice over the storm.

Suddenly, a cackle echoed through the air, chilling Norman's spine until he was shivering badly. Norman froze with fear when he saw the Glitch's great plasma limb rising up from out of the hole, forming a giant claw. The claw grew and grew until it was the size of the entire Blood Vessel. Norman looked up as the claw's pointy fingers extended to their full length. In a kind of funny yet creepy way, the closed its fingers to make a mouth shape. When it started talking, the mouth moved.

_"Norman, it has taken me a long time to find you and break out of my prison, and now my plans are finally coming into play... I am strong enough to kill you now! I couldn't let Skull and Crossbows kill you, even if it meant having to destroy my own mutant and life source; I was the one who had to kill you!"_

Norman backed up and gripped the Magnomatic harder.

"Why do you need to kill ME?! Tell me WHY!" screamed Norman.

He did indeed want to know the answer, because that whole time he didn't understand why the Glitch was after him in the first place.

_"You have heard of the Divination of Dimensions, have you not? YOU are the hero of that prophecy, YOU were foretold by the Spirits in Between that YOU would destroy me, and YOU have already! I am just here to stop YOU from fulfilling the future and destroying me AGAIN!"_

Norman shook his head and shouted,

"What the heck do you mean, AGAIN?! I wasn't even alive when you disappeared the first time, how could I have ALREADY destroyed you?!"

The plasma claw opened up and its pointed fingers twisted. It began to descend towards the Blood Vessel slowly.

_"Oh, never mind! I do not have time to deal with your ramblings! I am going to kill you once and for all, Norman Cobweb! It's now that I become a FREE VIRUS!"_

A beam of black plasma shot out of the Glitch's claw, and it soared towards Norman at a high rate. Norman quickly held up the Magnomatic, and when the beam was close enough it flew around him as though he were carrying an invisible shield. His arm began to burn and he looked to see his hand was literally burning up. Norman gasped in pain and let go of the Magnomatic, which flew onto the other side of the deck, smoking hot. Norman stared at his hand, which was burned severely, most of the skin blackened and cracking.

The beam disappeared and another cackle echoed through the air.

_"You silly little human, you must realize that a simple magnet like that will not erase my viruses! You would need something MUCH more powerful to overcome me!"_

Norman didn't have time to react before being snatched up by the plasma claw. From below, he heard Lizzy and Jeff shouting to him. Again, he couldn't make out the words. Norman's entire body hurt from the pressure being put on his body by the claw. Suddenly, he felt his mind going numb as the Glitch spoke again.

_"Before I kill you, you deserve to get a chance to experience what it's like to become POSSESSED! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHAHAHAHEHEH EHEHEHAHAHAAAAAH!"_

Norman was dropped to the ground with his mind numb. His vision went red and blurry all of a sudden, and he couldn't control his body movements anymore. From outside, Lizzy watched in horror as Norman's eyes turned red and he jumped forward with a blank expression, tackling Jeff to the ground. Lizzy ran forward and tried to stop him, but he kicked Lizzy from his position and at the same time took away Jeff's sword. And in less than a few seconds, Norman pinned Jeff to the ground, raised Jeff's sword and brought it down through his stomach.

Norman's mind cleared again and he fell backwards, weak and out of breath. He stared at Jeff's lifeless body with his own sword stabbed into his stomach. Blood soaked the deck as Jeff's body began to gush with blood from the wound. Jeff Ironblock was no more. Everything went into slow-motion as Norman turned his head to look at the Glitch's giant plasma limb. All he could hear was its evil laughter, echoing, taunting him. Norman's blood pounded in his head.

He was so angry; he started to run to the edge of the boat. He jumped right off the boat, but he flew up into the air. He screamed with anger as he made contact with the Glitch's plasma claw. Suddenly, everything went blinding bright as the Glitch's plasma exploded into white particles, everything destroying itself. Norman kept screaming, FLYING into the ocean, destroying every bit of plasma he touched. Lastly, he flew straight down into the whirlpool's hole and lashed out his arms and legs inside, making all of the ocean of plasma explode into more white particles. The land restored itself and Norman found himself panting hard, standing at the bottom of the now-dried-up ocean.

He looked to his right and saw that the boat had also disintegrated, and he was left standing there with Lizzy and Jeff's dead body. The rest of the group was scattered around the area, all lying still on the ground. All of them lifeless, all dead. Norman looked first at Jeff, and then at Lizzy, who was frozen with fear. He looked back at Jeff's dead body again and when he realized what he had done, he looked up at Lizzy, who was backing away. Norman stepped forward, holding out his hand, trying to stop Lizzy.

"Lizzy... Please, just wait..." he murmured.

Lizzy shook her head and turned around. She began to run as fast as she could away from Norman. He ran after her in the pouring rain. As he began to run, "Midna's Lament" from Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess (listen to it while you read, it's much better) began to play in the background, making the situation seem even more hopeless.

Norman tried to keep up with Lizzy, but she was so much faster that he had a very hard time trying to stop her. He looked behind him for a moment and mouthed "what the—" silently when he saw a group of people playing instruments running after him, playing Midna's Lament. While running, he moved his hand back and forth across his throat to signal for them to stop, but they just kept on playing. He grunted in frustration and turned around to keep running and tried to ignore them.

Lizzy entered a plains biome off the shore and Norman continued after her. He didn't want to lose her again, especially since he just lost her less than two days ago. After about three whole minutes of running, Lizzy finally stopped to catch her breath. Norman was right behind her, and when he found her she was lying on the ground, crying and lamenting. He tried to get her attention, but she stayed there, not letting him touch her.

She stood up again, but when she did she kept running, determined to stay away from Norman as much as possible. Norman ran after her again, but little by little she began to get away. Finally, she disappeared into the trees of a forest beyond. Norman stopped running and looked into the trees, but Lizzy was gone, possibly forever.

He sat down in the grass and just stayed there, soaking in the rain, feeling miserable and hopeless. Norman finally made himself stand up and find shelter. Norman didn't have anything with him, not even the Magnomatic anymore, and he just walked into the forest and sat underneath a tree. He sat there for a long time, and soon the painful memories of he and Lizzy in the past replayed again through his mind.

Once that was over, he stopped and thought about all his friends. His destroying of the Glitch and the Blood Vessel killed everyone aboard. He remembered the sight of all the dead bodies scattered around the ocean floor. Then he thought about Jeff, another of his best friends, killed by his own sword. And he was the one who killed him, too. The next thing Norman knew, all of his exhaustion and despair sent him into a painfully haunted sleep, right there underneath the tree.

* * *

Notch paced the floor, his mind full of troubles. He tried to think, but his worry clouded his mind too much for him to do so. Finally, he decided to just go and check on the new deceased.

His meeting with his other protagonists had ended. Luckily, he had recently found out exactly where the Glitch had come from and that from his research as a human on Earth that it came from the evil Professor Explotium, so he was able to explain the origin to his friends. They had decided to use all of the Mod Capsules and to create as many magnets as possible to absorb the Glitch. Sensei had decided to transport his fruit-driven death machine (the Fruit Firearm 5000, or FF5000 for short) into the Minecraft Dimension as soon as possible in case it be needed as well. After the matters were decided, he went back to his own business.

He walked into the room behind the meeting room where he had been previously. Inside were all the deceased men, women and children of the Minecraft Dimension's despawned. He walked through crowds of people, who all were attending their own business. Finally, he found the crowd of the deceased who were victims of the direct glitch attacks.

He saw Cherin Redstoneore, Esmeralda Ironblock, Francis Goldblock, Hilary Sponge, Jeff Ironblock, Jonah, Kelly Fern, Mason Mushroom, Olivia Dandelion, Palma Sand, Stephanie Flowerpot, Tammy Torch, Victor Enchantmenttable, Yesinia Air, and Zeke Squid. As he approached, Jeff ran up to him and said,

"Notch! I must know, what is going on back on the Overworld? Where is Bailey, Butterball, Blackberry, Danny, Quinn and Doughbelly? None of them are here! Are they still alive?"

Notch nodded and said,

"I had the power to bring back only a few people, and I chose to bring back the ones who will be playing an important role in the Divination of Dimensions. They will need to stay alive if they are to help fulfill the prophecy."

"But Carnepodrida said that only four heroes were in the Divination of Dimensions." replied Jeff.

Notch shook his head and said,

"No, Carnepodrida lied. There are double that, the Divination of Dimensions is a prophecy containing EIGHT heroes. They ALL must survive, and that is why I chose them."

Notch hoped deeply that Norman could drag himself out of his despair somehow, because if he couldn't there would be no one to stop the Glitch.

**Nuuuuuuuuu! It cannot be! Will Norman give up on his quest? Has he lost his will to live after killing all his friends? If he does survive, will he ever find Lizzy, who very well might not forgive him for what he did to both her and Jeff? Find out next chapter in THE GLITCH!**

***luvr pulls out something that looks like a shrink ray***

**"I will shrink one of your friends and send them into your brain through your ear, and maybe then we'll be able to get the information we need. Doesn't that sound like fun?" she asks.**

**"Yes, because I LOVE having little people run around inside my brain!" declares Pastrinator64 sarcastically, his mouth hanging open as if to say "NO DER :P".**

***luvr turns around and looks around at everyone in their group***

**"So, who wants to volunteer?"**


	33. Chapter 33: A Groovy Cameraman

**Hello, this is Pastrinator64 with another chapter from THE GLITCH. Last time on THE GLITCH we watched as Norman used some strange and suddenly miraculous powers to destroy the Glitch's plasma ocean, but in the process he killed all of his friends except for Lizzy, who was desperate to get away from him after what he had done to both her and Jeff. Norman ran after her, but failed to keep up, and had to resort to falling asleep underneath the trees of a nearby forest, drowning in his own sorrow. Now we see him finally waking up from his nightmares, realizing that he is no longer underneath that tree.**

**Now, let the story commence!**

Chapter_ 33: A Groovy Cameraman_

Norman awoke in darkness. His head hurt, his arms and legs ached, and he kept seeing the image of his friends' dead bodies over and over again. He rolled over onto his side and grunted, and when he looked down he realized that he was underneath a red blanket. He sat up and noticed he wasn't even underneath the tree anymore. Instead, he was lying in a bed, in a cave.

The cave itself was actually fashioned into a home. Torches were positioned around the walls to give off light. Paintings were positioned around the cave walls, making the place seem a bit homier. The stone floor was replaced with oak wood planks. There were crafting tables, about ten furnaces, some anvils, and an enchantment table surrounded by bookshelves.

"Man, whoever lives here sure has been here a while..." thought Norman.

Norman stood up out of the bed and explored around the cavern. About twenty blocks from his position was a wall with stacks and stacks of large chests. He wondered whether he should loot the home and run with the supplies or if he should stay here and find this person. After all, he was taken in.

Norman looked through each chest and muttered "woah" for every one. Each chest was stuffed full of goods. When he got to the two large food chests, his stomach grumbled and moaned, and it took all his self control to not take something. He turned around and looked to see a fireplace made of netherrack next to all the chests. He walked over to it and sat down. He warmed his hands for a few minutes, and finally he stood up and started pacing the floor.

"Alright, I've killed all my friends, Lizzy's alive but she ran away, and I've been taken into some stranger's house, and I don't know if he's even friendly or not. C'mon Norman, what are you going to do?" he thought to himself.

Norman heard footsteps and jumped backwards when he saw someone standing in the entrance of the cave. Norman backed up some more and said,

"Uh, I'm sorry, I don't know what I'm doing here, can you please help me? I'm very confused, I fell asleep underneath a tree, and—"

The figure held up a hand and said in a relaxed voice,

"Dude, just relax. I took you in here so you wouldn't get killed by those wild animals, man."

Norman suddenly thought of Quinn when he heard the voice. He walked forward and got a better look of the person.

"Quinn?" he muttered.

The figure stepped into the light a little more so Norman could see. This person wasn't Quinn at all. He was taller than most at about 2½ blocks tall. He was gangly, with long arms and legs. His hair was shaggy and colored a sandy blonde, and he had bright blue eyes. He looked around sixteen or seventeen years old, somewhere in between.

Norman noticed something in his hands. It was a bit bigger than a regular block. It was a camera, one of the rarest unimplemented blocks to find. It had a tripod, too. The only thing was, it had a diamond lens cap. The teenager walked closer and said,

"I don't know any Quinn guy, but my name's Joe. My full name is Joseph Moses Camera, but you can just call me Joe for short."

Joe held out his hand and Norman shook it cautiously. Lately he had been fooled very many times with tricks and traps, so he was awfully careful when meeting this new person. Suddenly, something in Joe's name caught his attention.

"Wait, did you say Camera? You mean, like, your block power being Camera?" he asked.

Joe sighed and held out his camera with the diamond lens cap.

"Yeah, that's my block power, alright. It sucks buckets, man. I'd rather have, like, diamond ore or something useful." he murmured.

But then Joe straightened up and said,

"Still, I'm able to use this to capture moments with my... Well, my used-to-be friends."

Joe walked over to a wool-fashioned couch and sat down. Norman walked over and stood in front of him, eager to know more.

"Well, what happened?" he asked.

Joe lay down on the couch, his body taking up the whole surface.

"Well little man, I used to live in a city. It was a BIG city too. There was everything I ever wanted there, man. I had friends, family, and there was even this groovy drugstore down the street I could—"

"Uh, drugstore?"

Joe waved his hand and said,

"Ah, that's beside the point. Anyway, I had a great life there, and everyone thought it was actually cool I got an unimplemented block power like Camera, so I felt included. But that all changed the day when the Glitch attacked out city. Its mutants were everywhere, destroying everything. Our whole city was destroyed. So, I fled out into the open wild and built my home in this cave, and I've been here for years, ever since I was fourteen."

Norman suddenly thought about the story. He and Lizzy had been attacked right after the Blockbearing Ceremony, they were fourteen. Bailey was attacked in her city when she was fourteen, and now here was Joe, who was ALSO attacked when he was fourteen. Norman wondered what the Glitch had against fourteen year-olds. He shuffled his feet, a bit uncomfortable.

"Well, I'm sorry for your loss."

Norman looked around him at the cave as a whole and said,

"Well, at least you've managed to be so prosperous."

Joe smiled and stood up. He shouldered his camera while holding it by the tripod's end and looked around him.

"Yeah, even though I never got any placement into a category, I've always wanted to be a Veyacraft. I have so much food that I probably won't need to go out hunting for another whole year. I even had enough food to feed the last kid I found. He was lying underneath—"

Norman held up his hand and said,

"Wait, you've had another kid here before?"

"Yeah, I never caught his name, but I did find out that he had obsidian powers and—"

Norman's mind started racing and he reached up and grabbed Joe's shoulders.

"Where is he now?!" he asked.

Joe shrugged and took Norman's hands off.

"I dunno, little man, the kid left just ten minutes ago, and it was weird cuz' right after that I went out and found you lying there under that tree. I think he went into the forest, or something." said Joe, scratching his chin.

Norman started jumping up and down, saying,

"Where's my Blockpack?!"

Joe walked casually over to one of his chests and he brought out Norman's Blockpack. Norman took it and said,

"I'm gonna need to borrow some food."

Joe's eyebrows knitted together and he muttered,

"Dude, you going already? What's so special about that kid?"

Norman sighed and tried to explain as quickly as possible.

"Ok, back when I lived in this one town on a Mushroom Island I had this friend named Patrick Obsidian, and he had obsidian powers. But we were attacked by the Glitch and I lost him, and I've wondered where he was this entire time! I think that the obsidian kid you met with is Patrick, and I need to try and find him!"

Joe paused for a moment and then muttered,

"Alright, take as much food as you want, I have plenty."

Norman thanked him and ran over to one of the large food chests. As he was shoving porkchops into his hotbar, Joe came over to him and said,

"Hey, mind if I come? I haven't been out on an adventure in such a long time. I really need to practice killing monsters anyway."

Norman nodded absentmindedly and muttered,

"Ok, sure."

Norman finished stocking up on food and then turned around. He studied Joe for a second, who gained a puzzled look.

"Wait, you're going to need a weapon." he said.

Joe held up his camera with the diamond lens cap.

"This is my weapon. I got an anvil and somehow I was able to give it a name with what experience points I had. I call it Snap. Get it? You know, like, "snap" a picture, or "snap" an enemy? Huh? Huh?"

Norman rolled his eyes and muttered,

"Yeah, I get it. Get whatever armor you have and slap it on, we've got to leave immediately."

Joe went off into one of his chest and found an almost-full set of iron armor—not including the helmet—which he put on quickly. Norman walked over to a chest and pulled out an iron sword for himself. As Norman walked towards the door he could hear Joe murmuring in excitement about going out.

"Oh man, I can't wait to kill some monsters, man. Like, I'm just itching for adventure, man, and, like, I think this'll be awesome, dude, and—"

"Joe, you're kind of rambling here." said Norman.

Once Joe was ready they both headed out the door. Joe was so clumsy with wearing the armor he had never used that he tripped on his way out the door. Once they were outside they ran out towards the forest, which was about thirty blocks away. Unfortunately, only about ten minutes into the forest the sky began to darken. Norman looked up and noticed this, so he turned to Joe and said,

"Alright, do you think we should set up camp or just rest for a moment, because it's turning dark out here."

Joe collapsed to the ground and started panting, apparently not used to running at top speed.

"I think... I just... Need, a, rest, for... A moment... Whew!"

He rolled onto his back and stared at the sky, still catching his breath. Norman took the time to zip open his Blockpack and take out his journal. He almost had forgotten to write.

_Day 16: July 8th, 2415_

_Today was even worse than yesterday. I found everyone again, but they were captured by the Skeleton Clan, which was actually just a group of some bloodthirsty skeleton pirates called the Bloodboned Buccaneers. I found Lizzy, who was miraculously alive, and once everyone was up on the deck there was a big battle between us and the skeletons. It turned out that Captain Gore, the leader, was actually Skull and Crossbows, the mutant we were supposed to find next._

_I didn't end up killing Skull and Crossbows. The Glitch had grown so strong that it replaced all of the water in the ocean we were sailing on with mutated black and red plasma. It attacked us with this giant plasma claw and at the same time it was trying to suck the Blood Vessel—which was the name of the ship, a very "I see what you did there" kind of name—down through a virus whirlpool._

_To make matters worse, apparently my Magnomatic wasn't strong enough to absorb the Glitch, and it nearly burned off my hand. I don't have it anymore, even. Without any form of protection, the Glitch possessed me for only about six seconds, but in that time I killed Jeff with his own sword._

_Once I snapped out of it, I felt some weird and sudden powers come over me, and I rocketed through the sea of plasma, making all of it explode just by touching it and screaming at the top of my lungs. Even worse, though, in the process I killed everyone on the ship except Lizzy._

_She ran away from me, horrified by my killing of Jeff. It was raining out and a sad tune was playing in the background and I felt like scum, and I tried to catch up with Lizzy, but she disappeared into the forest. I was so miserable and tired that I fell asleep underneath a tree with horrific images running through my head._

_I woke up again in a very homey cave that was the home of this 60's kind of guy named Joe Camera. He has a camera with a diamond lens cap. He took me in when he found me, and he claims that he had taken care of someone who—by the details I was given—was my missing friend Patrick Obsidian. So now we're on the move, trying to find Patrick. This has been an exhausting and miserable day, but at least I might be able to find one friend who'll stick with me._

_~Norman Cobweb_

**Well, that Joe Camera dude was kind of interesting. Will he and Norman bond, or will Norman just ignore him as he was? Will they really be able to find Norman's long-lost friend Patrick Obsidian from way back in chapters 7 and 8? Along the way will they be able to find Lizzy so that Norman can apologize for everything he ever did wrong? Find out next chapter in THE GLITCH!**

***Striker Hutassa jumps up and down with his hand raised***

**"Ooh! Ooh! I want to enter Pastrinator64's brain! Pick me!"**

***luvr skipped over him completely and picked Enderdude to the left, who looked like he had been asked to hug a creeper***

**"What? Me?" he mutters nervously.**

**"Yes, because legally I have no liability towards you, so I would be in no way affected if you never came out alive." replies luvr.**


	34. Chapter 34: A Friendly Kidnapper

**Hello, this is Pastrinator64 with another chapter from THE GLITCH. Last time on THE GLITCH we saw Norman interacting with a brand new face, the face belonging to a stuck-in-the-60's kind of guy named Joe Camera. His weapon, strangely enough, is a camera with a diamond lens cap, which appeared to be named Snap. After hearing about some clues that his long-lost friend Patrick Obsidian had come to Joe's cave just before him, they both left their cave to go on the search for both Patrick and runaway Lizzy. Now we see them meet yet another face deep inside the depths of a hidden cave.**

**Now, let the story commence!**

_Chapter 34: A Friendly Kidnapper_

Norman closed his journal and stored it away in his Blockpack. A few minutes later he began to hear the sounds of monsters inside the forest. He stood up and said,

"Alright, we need to keep moving to avoid all these hostile mobs."

Joe sighs and stands up. They begin to run through the forest. Thankfully, there was only about one monster attack every five minutes, so they weren't in very much danger. They kept running until the trees began to thin out. While running, Joe glanced over at Norman and said,

"So, what are we looking for, exactly?"

"I don't know, some sign of Patrick."

Joe nodded and continued to run. A few seconds later, he stopped running and grabbed Norman's shoulder. He pointed off to his left and said,

"Hey, maybe that light over there is him."

Norman stared off into the trees and also noticed the light. A little ways away there was an orange glow, which meant either torches or lava. Norman hoped for the first, because that meant someone was there. They ran towards the orange glow, and after about ten seconds they exited the forest and landed on a patch of open stone. There was a hill that rose up from the stone leading to more forest, but formed inside was a cave. The orange glow came from inside. Norman and Joe looked at each other and both shrugged. Then they walked right into the cave entrance, hoping to find an actual person.

* * *

Well, what they would find was both yes and no. A very average human, Calista Cactus, had gone mining. She was awfully shy to both mobs and people. She wasn't much of a fighter, and definitely a Veyacraft. Her day of mining had been very successful, and little did she know she would be meeting some new faces that day. Let's look in on her now...

Calista hopped down onto the next block and positioned her diamond pickaxe—which she had named Swift—in her hand more comfortably. She was so glad that nothing had attacked her so far. She hated monsters. It was getting hot being around all of the torches, and she kept fiddling with the strings on her sweatshirt. She had mined out every vein of every ore she could find, and now all that was left was stone.

She still hadn't found diamond, and she promised herself she wouldn't stop looking until she found at least one block of diamond ore. Calista kept searching and searching until finally she found a small cave built into the larger cave she was exploring. She peeked inside and then placed a torch. The mini cave was very small, but she went inside anyway. She almost missed the large hole stretching down into the ground. It was in the center of the mini cave. Calista crouched over the hole and peered down inside, but it was dark and she couldn't see all the way down.

She was too scared to go down the hole, so she just stood up straight again and scanned the walls. And to her great pleasure, there was a block of diamond ore not three blocks from her position. She practically skipped to it. She hacked away at the diamond ore with her diamond pickaxe until the one diamond popped into view, hovering slightly inside the hole. But suddenly, there was a rustling sound, and before Calista could take the diamond something grabbed her ankle and she was pulled back. She screamed as she was dragged down into the dark hole.

Calista couldn't see a thing in the hole, and every once in a while she would change direction, going this way and that as the unknown creature pulled her through. She screamed until her throat hurt, and suddenly she landed in a dim room. Calista panted and then sat up. She looked around the room she was now in. The room was perfectly cubed, 10x10x10. There were a few torches here and there, but not enough to give a lot of light, so the room was very dim.

Calista stood up and grasped her diamond pickaxe dubbed Swift, ready to strike anything that moved. She felt a hot steam on her back and she whirled around. She screamed and dropped Swift, because sitting there in front of her was an Enderdragon. It was even creepier because it had pink eyes and black pupils instead of the normal color.

Calista ran to the other side of the room, but the Enderdragon stretched out its long tail and snagged her by the waist. She fought hard to get away, but she wasn't strong enough. Finally, she turned around and brought her hands starting from the ground up, making a wall of cacti in front of her. But the Enderdragon just chomped down and ate all of the cacti like it was chocolate. She kept backing up, creating huge walls of cacti, but it did nothing to the dragon and only made her tired.

The Enderdragon lifted Calista up into the air until she was hanging upside-down by the waist, pounding her fists on the Enderdragon's tail.

"LET ME GO! GET OFF! NOW!" she screamed.

She stopped pounding for a moment, but she shouldn't have, because the Enderdragon took the moment to walk towards the center of the cave with her still hanging in the air. The Enderdragon lay down and then dropped Calista onto its belly. She was about to make a run for it when the Enderdragon's tail reached over and curled around her again, completely immobilizing her.

She stared at the Enderdragon, and the Enderdragon stared at her. Suddenly, it moved its head forward and started to lick Calista's face with its giant tongue. Calista grunted in disgust and said,

"HEY! STOP! QUIT IT! YOU... GROSS... DRAGON! GET OFF!"

* * *

At that same moment, Norman and Joe had already gone deep inside the cave. They traveled down through the cave, following a line of torches along the walls. They followed the line of torches and gradually began to travel deeper and deeper into the ground. At one point they entered an enormous cave formation, bigger than should be natural.

Norman and Joe kept following the torches and soon entered a miniature cave branching off from the large one. Inside they found a dark hole dug far down into the ground, and it was definitely not natural. Joe took a glance at Norman, who was thinking hard.

"So, what're we supposed to do?"

Norman sat down on the ground and began to inch his way into the hole.

"Dude! What the fizzle, man?! You can't just drop in there like that; there might be something evil or something!"

Norman looked up at him and shrugged.

"Well, I guess I'll have to take my chances."

Norman dropped down into the hole. Thankfully, his full set of diamond armor allowed him to fall the thirty or so block distance into the hole. He placed a torch down and saw another tunnel going straight without any slope. Before he was able to get on his hands and knees and look inside Joe came down in after him and crushed him underneath. Norman grunted in pain and crumpled to the ground, smushed by Joe's body.

"C'MON, JOE!" he yelled.

Joe tried to climb up to give Norman some space but ended up hurting him some more.

"Oops. Sorry, little dude..."

Norman and Joe struggled in their hole for a few minutes, but Norman finally managed to get into a crawling position and inch inside the mini tunnel. Joe had an even harder time getting into a crawling position with the space he had considering his height. After roughly ten minutes they were finally both flat on their stomachs and crawling through the tunnel.

Every once in a while Joe would bang his armor on the stone, making it echo through the tunnel. Finally, after about ten bangs in a row Norman turned his head back to look at Joe.

"Shhh! If there IS something down here we'll be caught for sure with you making a racket like that!"

As if on cue a loud roar echoed from far down the tunnel. Norman grunted in frustration and said,

"NOW look what you did! See what I mean?"

Norman turned his head back around and immediately was greeted with something long and purple coming towards him. The unknown object grabbed Norman by the helmet and began to drag him through the tunnel.

"EEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

Norman finally came out of the tunnel ten seconds later and landed in a dimly lit room. Thankfully, he hadn't lost his helmet so when he landed flat on his face he didn't bruise himself. Norman was about to get back up on his feet when Joe came down on top of him, crushing him painfully for the second time.

"REALLY, JOE?! AGAIN?!"

"Sorry! Unintentional, man!"

Both Norman and Joe shakily stood to their feet and looked around. Instantly they spotted an actual Enderdragon curled up in the corner of the room. And it had someone with it, who was screaming and hollering.

Norman motioned for Joe to follow and they both began to slowly make their way towards the Enderdragon. They crept around back and Norman had to get up on Joe's shoulders to see what was going on. He gasped at the sight, which was so surprising that he almost fell off.

There was a girl sitting entangled in the Enderdragon's tail. No, tails? Yes, tails, this Enderdragon had THREE tails. One was curled around the girl, and the other two were rubbing her face and smoothing her hair, and at the same time the Enderdragon was licking her with its great lavender tongue.

"GET OFF! STOP IT! PLEASE... JUST... STOP... LICKING... AAAHHH!" she screamed.

From below, Joe whispered,

"Hey, what's going on over there?"

Norman looked down at Joe and muttered,

"This Enderdragon isn't an Enderdragon, it's a Frienderdragon. He/she is licking some girl trapped in his/her tail. We should probably intervene."

Unfortunately, looking down caused Norman to go off-balance, so he fell backwards and they both fell onto the ground making a loud thump. Norman looked up in time to see the Frienderdragon turning around to look at him and Joe. The girl took the opportunity to break free. Before the Frienderdragon could do anything she ran up the length of its neck and used its head as a spring-board, jumping off—and landing on top of Joe. Joe's immediate reaction was,

"Hey, you're pretty."

Norman ran and grabbed both of them, and soon they were all making their way to the other side of the room. The Frienderdragon came after them, its three tails waving in the air. Norman turned around and put the Frienderdragon in a box of cobwebs, which drained him of his energy, but not enough to make him too weak. He walked forward and observed the Frienderdragon as it moved around its cobweb prison, confused and a little scared. Finally, the dragon stared right at the girl and made a deep croaking sound in the back of its throat.

Norman turned around and looked at the girl and said,

"Are you ok?"

The girl blushed a bit and shuffled her feet.

"Um, yeah, sure."

Norman came forward and held out a hand.

"My name is Norman Cobweb." they shook, and Joe came over and stared at the girl. "And, uh, this is Joe Camera." he added, gesturing to Joe.

Joe shook hands and then said,

"You're pretty..."

She blushed even more and replied,

"Um, my name is, uh, uh, um, Calista Cactus. Nice to meet you..."

The three of them looked at the Frienderdragon, who was still staring at Calista with loving eyes.

"What are we supposed to do with it?" asked Calista.

Norman turned around and looked at her.

"What do you mean? Let's just leave it, it'll get us seen." he replied.

Calista shook her head and walked closer to the Frienderdragon.

"No, we can't just leave the poor thing. It's innocent! It might be of some use if we take it, you know." she turned around and looked at both the boys. "Right?"

Joe's response,

"You're pretty."

**Joe seems to be pretty oblivious of personal space and keeping his thoughts in his own head, doesn't he? Will Norman be able to handle having to drag along two other people and a huge Frienderdragon? Will they be caught by the next clan due to their lack of stealth? Will Norman be able to still find either Lizzy or Patrick? Find out next chapter in THE GLITCH!**

***Enderdude walks forward looking nervous***

***luvr points the gun right in between his eyes and says,***

**"Now, hold still, you just might feel a tiny pinch in the brain..."**

***she fires the gun and the beam spreads all around Enderdude's body, shrinking him to the size of a cookie crumb***


	35. Chapter 35: The Dead Who Never Died

**Hello, this is Pastrinator64 with another chapter from THE GLITCH. Last time on THE GLITCH we saw Norman and Joe continue on their mini-quest to find Norman's long-lost friend Patrick Obsidian. Although they did not find him, they did find a new face down in the depths of a large cave, and the cactus-powered girl revealed herself to be Calista Cactus. She had been kidnapped by a playful Frienderdragon and dragged down there to be licked for eternity. Now we watch as they escape from the cave, Norman soon to find a disturbing secret about his deceased friends.**

**Now, let the story commence!**

_Chapter 35: The Dead Who Never Died_

They did end up keeping the Frienderdragon and Calista named it Boysenberry. The three just decided that if it were entranced by a girl like Calista then it must be a boy. Norman looked around and saw Joe slamming his fist into the stone of the room. After about three blocks he gave up and flexed his arm, which was now sore.

"Man, we'll never get through this stone." he murmured.

Calista came forward with Swift and said,

"Maybe THIS will help."

So they began to tunnel upward, and with Calista's diamond pickaxe to help they were able to travel quickly. After another few minutes the hole opened up to the surface. They exited the hole, followed by Boysenberry, who had a bit of a hard time getting through the hole. Once they were all outside, Norman looked at Boysenberry and walked up to him.

"Alright, let's see if you can fly."

Boysenberry let him climb on his scaly back. As Norman was scooting up its back, Joe came forward and jumped excitedly onto the Frienderdragon's back.

"Yeah! I've always wanted to ride a giant flying reptile with three tails!" he declared.

Norman looked down and saw Calista still standing there, shuffling her feet nervously.

"You coming? Oh, are you scared of flying?" he asked.

Calista nodded and muttered,

"Yes, very..."

Without warning, Boysenberry stretched out one of its tails and lifted Calista up, dropping her on his back, right behind Joe. Before she could make her getaway he jumped up and started flapping its wings. In a few moments he began to fly through the air. Calista screamed at the top of her lungs, clinging to Joe for dear life. At one point Joe looked behind him at Calista and said,

"You have warm hands..."

Calista didn't hear him since she was drowning out everything else with her screaming. Norman looked down at the landscape they were passing. It was magnificent, and he had never been up so high. They continued to fly until they were above the clouds. Suddenly, he looked out and saw a giant dry patch of dirt and sand stretching out into the distance. It was unnaturally large, as large as an ocean. OCEAN!

Norman realized that it was the ocean he had dried up that his friends had died in. He couldn't really control Boysenberry, so he just hoped that they would keep going that direction. Once they were close enough, he turned around and shouted at Calista, trying to get his voice over her screams.

"CALISTA! CAN YOU TELL BOYSENBERRY TO LAND?!"

Thankfully, Calista heard him shout, and she looked up and said,

"WHAT?!"

"I SAID, CAN YOU TELL BOYSENBERRY TO LAND?!"

"OK! FINE BY ME, AS LONG AS WE GET BACK TO SOLID GROUND! BOYSENBERRY, GO DOWN TO LAND ON THAT BEACH!"

Miraculously, Boysenberry could understand her and he began to descend, and in a matter of minutes they landed lightly on the sandy beach next to the dried up ocean. Norman leapt off the dragon's back and began to run. He could hear his companions calling for him from behind, but he kept running. He ran onto the ground of the dried ocean and looked around for some sign of his colleagues' bodies. He needed to give them a proper burial; otherwise he wouldn't be able to live with himself.

He saw them laying just fifty or so blocks from his position, and he ran even faster until he reached them. Seeing the bodies reminded him of his painful experience, especially when he found Jeff's body. When he did look at Jeff's body, he couldn't stop himself from breaking down completely. He kneeled down and just wept over his dead body. He looked at the sword jammed in his stomach and he stood up. He couldn't leave it in there.

Norman stood over Jeff's body and slowly removed the blood-soaked iron sword. Once it was out he even cleaned it off with his shirt so that it looked new again. He was going to keep it in remembrance of Jeff.

Norman put the sword in his hotbar and then heard footsteps behind him. It was Joe and Calista.

"Dude, what the fizzle are you... Oh my Notch, what happened here?" he muttered, staring at the dead bodies.

Norman sighed and told the two to sit down. Once they were comfortable, he told them the ENTIRE story of what had happened starting with his life on Earth and ending on meeting Calista and Boysenberry. When he explained the whole concept of different dimensions and how theirs was created inside a computer only Calista freaked out—Joe just sorta went "dude, that's triple freaking wicked!" instead.

"Oh my Notch, my life is programmed, my life is a lie, I can't believe it, I—" muttered Calista as she began to hyperventilate.

"Calista, calm down! Your life isn't a lie!" said Norman, trying to keep her lungs from going out.

"So... You really killed... Your friends?" Calista murmured.

"Yes." Norman replied sadly.

Both Calista and Joe quickly backed away from Norman.

"I'm not going to kill either of you! Besides, the Glitch isn't even here anymore, I think I beat it up pretty bad." he said.

Norman sighed and walked around to get the rest of the bodies. Suddenly, as he looked at the bodies, he realized that most of them aren't there. Bailey, Butterball, Blackberry, Danny, Quinn and Doughbelly were all gone. He looked around again to make sure, but his suspicions were confirmed. They were still alive somewhere. He cupped his hands to his mouth and began to shout.

"BAILEY! BUTTERBALL! BLACKBERRY! DANNY! QUINN! DOUGHBELLY! WHERE ARE YOU?! CAN YOU HEAR ME?! HELLO?! ARE YOU STILL ALIVE?! HELLOOOOOOOO?!"

No response. Norman looked around again and finally noticed Joe and Calista staring at him.

"Who are they?" asked Calista.

"My friends! When I destroyed the plasma ocean everyone died, but most of the bodies aren't here! I know that my friend Lizzy escaped, but now I think that a lot of my friends are still here! We have to find them! Be on the lookout for a giant walking metal Creeper!" he declared.

"Uh, Creeper?" muttered Joe.

"My friend Bailey is a Creeperwhisperer. She tamed a regular Creeper and also a giant metal monster Creeper." he said.

"Groovy!" shouted Joe.

But before Norman could start looking for his friends he had to bury the friends he had. He started with Jeff. They found a patch of dirt nearby and Joe carried Jeff's body. Norman made hole two blocks deep big enough for Jeff and Joe placed him inside. He covered up the hole with two dirt and then placed a block of cobblestone. Thankfully, Joe had some spare signs, so they placed one on the cobblestone and Norman wrote,

**IN REMEMBRANCE OF JEFF IRONBLOCK**

Next he buried Hilary with his own grave and then finally Kelly. Once the three burials were finished Norman stepped back and stared at the gravestones. It brought back painful memories, so he looked away and instead looked at Joe and Calista, who were waiting patiently. Calista pointed at Norman and said,

"Uh, Norman, you're crying."

Norman's cheeks reddened and he quickly wiped away his sudden tears. He definitely didn't want to seem super-emotional. They walked back to the beach and hopped back on Boysenberry's back; they had some searching to do.

Thankfully, Norman's ears didn't bleed to death this time, because Calista managed to keep herself from screaming her lungs out.

They flew for about ten minutes, and unfortunately they had to stop because flying had taken its toll on Calista. She threw up about ten minutes into the flight, so they were forced to land and get her back into health.

They landed in a forest below. Norman was very disappointed that they hadn't found any sign of his friends. Calista sat up against a large birch tree and moaned. After being fed some food she started to feel a little better, but not well enough to start moving again. Norman sighed and said that they'd have to stay there for the rest of the night. It was turning dark anyway.

Since Calista couldn't create a wall of cacti to protect them they had to punch down some trees—they hadn't brought any axes, unfortunately—and make some wooden planks. Once they had built a little box of planks around them Joe put up some torches. Norman sat down on the ground and took off his Blockpack. Once his journal was out he flipped it open and turned to a new page.

_Day 17: July 9th, 2415_

_Today was very interesting. Joe and I didn't find Patrick, but we found this cave and when we went deep down inside there was this long tunnel we had to go through. About halfway through we were attacked, and we ended up in this room with what we thought was an Enderdragon. It was actually a Frienderdragon, and it had three tails. It also had taken captive of a girl who's name we later found out was Calista._

_So, we got back outside and then hopped on the Frienderdragon's back—who Calista named Boysenberry... What is it with all these pets everyone keeps getting with food names? Butterball, Blackberry, Doughbelly, and now Boysenberry?_

_Anyway, we flew on Boysenberry's back for a while and finally we found the ocean that I destroyed back on the ship. We performed a proper burial for the bodies, but curiously most of the bodies weren't there. So now we're looking for my supposedly-alive friends, but we had to stop because Calista vomited while flying. I sure hope that we can find them and that they really are still alive, otherwise I think my quest is over._

_~Norman Cobweb_

Joe placed down a bed and flopped onto it, sighing with exhaustion. Norman closed his book, put it back in his Blockpack and then walked over to Joe.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"You got any more beds?" asked Norman.

Joe frowned and checked in his hotbar. Then he checked in his own Blockpack. He looked back up and said,

"No, but we can just share the bed!"

Norman slapped his forehead and then pulled down on his skin in frustration. Calista looked at the bed and said,

"Um, I'm not sure if I want to share a bed with two other people... Especially if they're... You know, guys..."

Joe gestured for her to come over.

"C'mon, dudette, I don't bite. Unless I'm having a nightmare, then I might bite. But that usually doesn't happen."

That definitely didn't reassure Calista. So it ended up being that Jeff slept on the right, Calista on the left, and Norman in the middle. He hadn't ever shared a bed with a sibling since he was an only child, and lying there in bed squished in between two other people wasn't his cup of tea. Norman eventually began to drift off to sleep when he heard a disturbing sound to his right.

"FFFFFFRRRRRRPPPPP!"

There was a pause. But then,

"JOE! C'MON!"

Both Norman and Calista scrambled out of the bed, gagging and choking. Joe turned over and said,

"Uh, sorry."

Both Norman and Calista just slept on the grass for the night to keep away from Joe's toxic fumes. Norman had an even HARDER time falling asleep that night.

* * *

That night Norman had another terrible dream. Seeing the dead bodies again reminded Norman of his horrific experience, which unfortunately made its way into his dream.

In the dream, Norman found himself standing in complete darkness, and there was nothing around him but that. Suddenly, an invisible projector created a screen in midair in front of him. He saw the Glitch's evil red eyes staring at him. Then he heard an evil laugh, the Glitch's laugh. The screen then began to show all the pictures of his friends' dead bodies, even the ones who were still alive.

First came on Jonah and Esmeralda, bloody and broken. Then Hilary, Kelly, Stephanie and others. He saw Danny, his own diamond sword stabbed into his neck. He saw Jeff as he was before, his own sword in his stomach. Then he saw Lizzy, her entire body bloody, gory, snapped and twisted. But somehow she was still alive, screaming in her bloody form, just screaming at the top of her lungs.

Finally, he saw his mother and father, he saw them first mutate like they did back on Earth, into the zombie and skeleton. Then he saw the Glitch come up behind them and then consume them with its black hole mouth. He could even see the Glitch chewing them into bloody mush inside its mouth, making Norman feel sick beyond compare.

Finally, the screen disappeared and Norman heard the Glitch's evil cackle again. But then all of a sudden, without any warning he heard Joe's horrible fart echo through the darkness.

* * *

He woke up staring into Joe's snoring mouth, enveloped with his horrible gassy stench.

"OH MY GOD! JOE!"

Joe awoke with a start and stared at Norman, who was backed up against the wall.

"Sorry, dude! It's not my fault! I keep having a dream about the burrito mod!"

Norman put a hand up to his forehead and tried to calm down, closing his eyes.

"Just, just... Ugh... Just put some blocks around your bed so you don't fall out and roll over to me. Please?"

Joe heaved a sigh and stood up, walking back over to his bed.

"Right. Goodnight."

Norman grunted and flopped back onto the grass. He tried to get to sleep again, but by the time he did fall asleep he was being woken up the next second.

* * *

The next morning Norman awoke with a headache, which was not exactly his ideal way to start a morning. He didn't want to get up, but they had to get moving again. To catch up with their group they'd need to leave early. So Norman dragged himself up from the grass and stood up, looking around him inside their little home. Joe and Calista were both asleep—and thankfully Joe's gas had gone away almost completely—so Norman quietly took out some porkchops. After his quick breakfast Joe woke up, and he too had some breakfast.

Calista seemed to need some extra rest, because it took her another half hour to get herself up. Once they all had breakfast and Boysenberry was fed they chopped down their little hut with their hands and then got ready to fly again. Norman saw Joe packing up his bed at the moment, and he walked over and said,

"So, you ready to go?"

Joe was about to reply "yes" when he suddenly lost his balance and fell on his butt. The ground was actually rumbling. Somewhere in the forest Norman could hear a thundering boom every other second.

Suddenly, from out of the trees burst a whole swarm of pigs, sheep and chickens. There were even a couple hostile mobs, but they just stayed in the group and kept on running, or crawling, or whatever. Norman looked back at the place where they had fled and heard a crashing noise. Suddenly, the four or five trees in front of them exploded violently, setting fire to nearby trees. When Norman looked up again, he found himself staring into the Mechacreeper's giant green and black eyes.

He began to jump for joy.

**Huzzah! Norman has finally found the Blackberry, which means he has found Butterball and Bailey! Will they together be able to find the rest of their missing and possibly alive friends? Will Calista ever stop being so shy? Will Joe ever solve his gaseous problems? Find out next chapter in THE GLITCH!**

***luvr bends down and picks up the crumb-sized Enderdude and places him on pastrinator64's shoulder***

**"Alright, Enderdude, just hop inside his ear. Take this microphone," luvr says, handing him a microscopic microphone. "So that you'll be able to communicate with us. Tell us if you find any information."**

***Enderdude turns around and jumps inside Pastrinator64's ear, who squirms around uncomfortably***

**"Ok, this is a little too weird for me..." he mutters.**


	36. Chapter 36: All Hell Will Break Loose

**(Psst, just in advance I need to say that this chapter is a mini-chapter, the shortest I will ever write. So, I will post this and the 37th chapter today to give more to read. Thank you.)**

**Hello, this is Pastrinator64 with another chapter from THE GLITCH. Last time on THE GLITCH we watched as Norman, Joe, and Calista escaped from their cave. They decided to fly up into the air, and they arrived at the dried-up ocean where Norman had accidently killed all his friends except Lizzy, and on a stunning note, most of the bodies were gone! Norman suspected that they were somehow still alive! So, they flew back around, and eventually stopped to rest underneath some trees, and there they found Bailey, Butterball, and Blackberry, also camping out hopelessly. Now we switch to Herobrine's view and watch him lying in bed in the Nether, trying to deal with his kingdom and his migraine at the same time.**

**Now, let the story commence!**

_Chapter 36: All Hell Will Break Loose_

You could've bet that NO ONE, absolutely, NO ONE was jumping for joy down in the Nether. Herobrine's headache had turned worse than a concussion, and now he couldn't even get out of bed. Even with help, it took him twenty minutes to get to the other side of a room.

As he lay in bed and moaned, Herobrine said to himself,

"Oh, woe is me; I will never be able to rule my empire!"

He hit a note block beside his bed and Carl his zombie pigman servant came into the room. He bowed and said,

"Yes, Lord Herobrine, what can I do for you?"

Herobrine sighed and rubbed his forehead.

"I want you to bring Emily and Lily in here. I must see them."

"Yes, right away Lord Herobrine..."

Carl bowed and left the room again. A few minutes later Herobrine's two people came in. One was a full-grown woman with long black hair that stretched down to her waist. Her eyes were glowing white like his. She had a beautiful face as well, making Herobrine feel better when she approached.

The other was a little girl about the age of seven. She had black hair as well, but not as long. It was braided and lined with blood-red flowers. She also had white eyes like his. The two walked up to his bedside and the woman spoke first.

"Herobrine, how are you feeling? Should I get you some Wither juice to cool you down?" she asked.

"No, Emily, I am fine. Just... Just a little tired, that's all."

The little girl stood on her tippy-toes and put her hands on Herobrine's forehead.

"Daddy, are you going to be unsick soon?" she asked.

Herobrine reached over and put his arm around his daughter.

"Yes, Lily, daddy will be ok." he assured her.

He looked at his wife Emily and muttered,

"Honey, are you and Lily ok? You're not catching any of my sickness, are you?"

She shook her head and replied,

"No, we're perfectly healthy. Me and the girl."

She turned around, bent down and tapped Lily on the nose.

"Isn't that right, my little lily pad?"

Lily smiled and nodded her head vigorously. She then reached into her pocket and pulled out a strange kind of flower. It had the shape of a rose, but was covered in dark red bumps like Netherwart.

"I found this for you, daddy! It's a Netherwose! Isn't it pwetty, daddy?" she said innocently, putting the flower in her father's hair.

Herobrine picked up the flower and examined it,

"Yes, my lily pad, it is VERY pretty." he puts in the hotbar on his left arm and then looks at her with loving eyes. "Where did you find it?"

"I found it on my walk with mommy thwough the Netherwart Valley! Mommy called it a cwossfweed!" she replied, bouncing up and down excitedly.

Herobrine looked back at his wife and said,

"I asked you to come in here to talk with you about something bad that's happening, Emily."

She knelt down at his bedside and said,

"What is going on? Is it more troubles with your empire?"

Herobrine sighed and moved himself into a comfortable position.

"Yes, it does. Lately my army has been getting a bit out of hand. Since I am unable to attend important meetings due to this migraine of mine, no one seems to be able to cooperate. Without cooperation, the different mob generals have been arguing about war tactics, and if this keeps up all of my different mob armies will be against each other in one big Nether War. All hell will break loose. And I mean literally all of **Hell**, because this is my dimension, but soon that will change if I can't control as long as this headache perpetually returns."

His wife sighed, but then leaned forward a few seconds later and kissed him on the cheek.

"I'm sure you'll get better, sweetie. A headache can't last forever." she murmured.

"Maybe not, but long enough to make my empire crumble to the ground." he muttered.

"Think positive, dear, just think positive. Can't Notch help you with this?"

Suddenly, Lily piped up from his bedside again.

"Yeah, daddy, where's uncle Notch? And what about Mrs. Endydagon?" she asked sweetly.

Herobrine frowned and said,

"Well, they've been having troubles with their armies as well. The Aether Palace has been taken over entirely and Notch has been sent into hiding, and Queen Enderdragon has almost lost control of her Endermen. This is all because of the Glitch, that damn piece of space scum; it should go back where it came from."

"Herobrine, please don't swear in front of the little one." scolded Emily.

Herobrine sighed and paused for a moment before saying,

"I'm sorry, I've been trying to control my anger. It just ends up worsening my headache all over again."

Lily hopped up and tried to kiss Herobrine on the cheek but couldn't reach. Once she managed to complete her intentions she said,

"I think you'll get unsick, daddy! I know you will!"

Herobrine hugged her and whispered,

"I hope I will too, little one..."

**Awww, isn't that touching? Will Herobrine be able to help take care of his family with his migraine? Will he much less be able to handle his entire empire? Will this mysterious headache of his ever go away at all? Find out next chapter in THE GLITCH!**

***view switches to Enderdude's inside Pastrinator64's head***

***he walks down through his head and mutters,***

**"Wow, this place is gigantic..."**

**"Hey! I heard that!" says Pastrinator64 from the outside.**


	37. Chapter 37: The Interrogation

**Hello, this is Pastrinator64 with another chapter from THE GLITCH. Last time on THE GLITCH we watched as Herobrine interacted with his wife and daughter, trying to talk to them about his trouble in the Nether. He no longer has the power to rule his empire now that he is stuck in bed with the mysterious migraine. He wondered whether all of his kingdom will sooner or later will break loose into mass destruction. Now we switch over to the President's view and watch as he is interrogated after capture in Berlin, Germany, for information.**

**Now, let the story commence!**

_Chapter 37: The Interrogation_

I woke up in a dark room. I couldn't move, because my wrists and ankles were bound to a cold metal chair that I was sitting in. My body ached of the previous poison I had been injected with. Suddenly, a bright light appeared in front of me and I closed my eyes so I wouldn't go blind. After a few seconds I opened them again and was able to handle the light a little better. I looked down and suddenly noticed that I was stripped of my clothing except for my boxers. I looked up and suddenly a figure came into view from my left.

It was the Chancellor of Germany, Detlev Kaiser. He was a tall and fit man with a very deep tan. He had many bulging muscles, but most were hidden underneath his fine gray suit. He had shortly trimmed black hair and a moustache like Hitler's. He had a small bit of stubble on his chin as well. Most of the time he was smiling, but usually it was an evil smile like he was always plotting to kill someone. He wore that smile at the moment as he appeared in my view.

"Hello, Clarence Jordanship, President of the United States of America. Welcome to my interrogation hold." he walked around behind me and I scowled.

"What is going on here, Detlev, I thought that we already settled our matters on World War VI, what could you possibly want from me?" I muttered questioningly.

He walked back around so that I could see him.

"Yes, those matters have been settled. I am not here to discuss anything on the topic of that war. I am trying to gain information about this dreadful virus that is spreading across the globe. You are my main source of information."

My scowl grows even more and I'm scowling so hard that my lips crack.

"What makes you think I'm going to tell you anything?" I snapped back at him.

"I have taken the liberty of hiring a torture specialist to help ease the information out of you." he turned in the other direction and shouted, "Viktor!"

A large burly man in a black mask came in with a black jacket containing many instruments of torture.

"I'd like you to meet Viktor Crum. He will be performing your torture today."

Viktor grunted and then pulled out a syringe containing a sickly green liquid from his front jacket pocket. Detlev walked around behind me and then spoke.

"Alright, first question, where exactly was this virus created?"

I didn't speak for a moment. After a few seconds he walked around in front of me and said,

"Well? Have you nothing to say?"

I just stared at him with anger. I was not going to give up info that could destroy my entire life and everyone in it. Detlev frowned and then walked around to my other side.

"Alright then. Viktor..."

Viktor walked forward and I held my breath. I felt the needle jab into my side and I yelled out in pain. Suddenly, the liquid inside entered my blood and I began to feel a mixture of exhaustion and burning heat. He took the needle out and set it on a table in front of me.

"That liquid is called Sanguis Occidere, a very dangerous liquid that can kill your blood cells VERY quickly. If you tell us your information you might actually have a chance of living." he said softly.

I panted for a few seconds, but then managed to get out this,

"I'll... Never... Tell you... Anything!"

He walked around me and said,

"I would hope that you would cooperate to make this less of a pain. I am trying to be nice."

Detlev continued to pace around me in a circle slowly, almost taunting me for my lack of the ability to move.

"Now then, WHERE did this virus come from?" he asked again.

The poison was weakening me, and I decided to try and stall as long as possible to give my men some time to get me out.

"Why... Do you... Need this information?" I muttered, trying to keep a steady breath.

"Well, since I will have to resort to killing you when this interrogation is over anyway I guess I can tell you. I am in need of this information so that I can seek out the source of the virus myself. Once I find whatever the source is I will try to reinforce to create the virus a second time but in a way where I can control it manually by machine. I may sound like I am insane, but I know that with that kind of power anyone who wants to live will elect me as the leader of the country. If I can extend this, I will take over this continent, and then the world. I will be the most powerful man who ever existed and no one will dare come to take me out of office." he explained slowly.

"You are a madman, Detlev." I muttered as a reply.

"Am I? Are you sure you wouldn't like to rethink that?"

Suddenly, Viktor came forward and pulled out a knife. He held it to my throat and slashed it. I screamed out in rage and pain, and I knew that he was going to stretch this torture on until I was so exhausted and in pain that I died. The cut was deep, but not deep enough to kill me, just enough to cause unbearable pain, though.

"You..." I gasped, trying to breathe normally. "You cannot believe that you can contain such a powerful virus as this one with just regular machinery. It eats through the programming of anything it comes across. Even the genetic code of people and animals..."

Suddenly, Detlev's face light up and then he smiled. I realized what I had just done and instantly regretted it.

"Even the genetic code of people and animals, you say? Well, this will be an even BETTER virus to use than I thought. Taking rule of this Earth will be far easier than I expected. And if populations die away in the process, oh well. Heheheheheh!" he laughed.

Suddenly, he stopped laughing and abruptly gestured to Viktor, who moved forward and pressed his knife up against my neck again.

"Now then, I just need ONE thing from you, Clarence... Where did the virus come from?!" he yelled.

I didn't answer. A few seconds later, he waved his hand and Viktor slashed another bloody wound across my neck. I screamed out as the blade pierced through my skin, so painful I almost wanted to give up. Viktor paused, which I figured was a chance to let me answer. I didn't, so I gained another cut. After three more cuts my neck was burning so much and it was fully wounded so that one more slash would kill me.

Detlev's eyes filled with anger at my silence and then he waved his hand at Viktor, shouting,

"Alright, I can't seem to make you talk. I guess we'll have to raise this up one notch!"

Viktor walked towards the table where he had set his needle and cleaned it quickly, then set it back in his jacket pocket. Then, he came forward and unshackled my wrists and ankles. I quickly jumped up and kicked him in the eye—I had practiced martial arts ever since I was five and still did now—as hard as I could. When I fell back down he glared at me with one black eye and then grabbed my arms, pinning them behind my back and making me stand up from the chair.

He guided me over to the table behind the bright lamp. There were shackles there too, and the next thing I knew I was lying flat on the table in my boxers, my wrists and ankles shackled again. Suddenly, Viktor pulled out a long rusty nail from a different pocket and moved to my feet. He held it very close to my sole threateningly, and then Detlev asked his question again.

"So, Clarence, WHERE DID THIS VIRUS COME FROM?!"

It took all my self-discipline to not shout out the location of Professor Explotium's old lab. About five seconds went by, but then Detlev lost his patience and gestured to Viktor. Viktor jerked forward and stabbed the rusty nail through my sole, and I screamed loud enough so that the entire world could've heard it. It was more pain than I had felt in my life.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Finally, Viktor stopped and the nail just stuck there, stabbed two inches into my foot.

I screamed a couple more times and then just grimaced, groaning and panting, trying to stay alive.

"You could end this now, Clarence! You could stop the pain! If you tell me where the virus came from I can stop! But you will experience pain and anguish UNTIL YOU GIVE ME THE DAMN LOCATION! WHERE DID IT COME FROM?! TELL ME NOW!"

He was angry, his face reddened and his veins bulging dangerously. I didn't speak, I was both too weak and too pained to talk, and even if I could I made a promise not to give my country up to an evil dictator. We had been bombed by Detlev four times in the past four years, and he had always been waiting to start and finish a war with a victory, but somehow he always came up short. I should've known he would attack us.

Suddenly, Viktor grabbed a new nail from his pocket and stabbed it into my other foot, and I continued screaming, wailing, just yelling out until my voice grew hoarse in all the anguish I was in. My tortured screams were the only thing I could hear, and it even blocked out the sound of my thumping blood.

After about ten seconds I had two nails puncture through the soles of my feet. I stared painfully at Detlev, who was standing over me with such anger in his eyes that it could've set me on fire if physically possible.

Finally Detlev lost all patience he had and screamed,

"YOU ARE WASTING MY TIME! I AM GOING TO KILL YOU MYSELF, YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY USELESS TO ME WITH THAT STAMINA OF YOURS! I WILL KIDNAP YOUR WIFE INSTEAD, AND HOPEFULLY SHE WILL BREAK MUCH EASIER!"

Detlev walked into the shadows of the room and came back a few seconds later with a large poison gun. Its tank was glass, but the rest of it was metal. Inside the glass tank was full of smoky black liquid, bubbling and oozy. He held the gun up to my face, right in between my eyes and said,

"GOODBYE, CLARENCE! I'M SURE YOUR COUNTRY IS GLAD THAT YOU FAILED THEM! GO DOWN TO HELL YOU UNDESERVING PIECE OF—"

Suddenly, a light filled the room and I saw a door break down on the other side of the room. I strained my neck to see, but I could see a lie of soldiers streaming in through the door. Detlev and Viktor backed up against the wall to my left. I was relieved to see that they were my men, and then General Chase Newman walked to the front holding his own heat-seeking MSG (Magnified Shocking Gun). He clicked it on and it began to spark dangerously, making loud and rapid ticking noises.

"Detlev Kaiser, you are under arrest! You're going to have to come with us now. Men, pat him down along his companion Viktor Crum, and then take them back to our main prison hold. They're going to be locked up until Satan takes them away to where they belong!" he declared angrily.

Four soldiers came forward with their high-tech armor suits. They all had MSGs in their hands. Suddenly though, Detlev jumped forward and passed right through the two soldiers, leaving a trail of black plasma behind him. The two soldiers yelled and almost collapsed, but then straightened back up and turned around to face General Chase Newman. A cloud of thin black plasma floated around the two and they became distorted as they raised their guns.

"TAKE COVER!" screamed one of the soldiers.

The General quickly smashed a gadget on his wrist on his side, and a transparent force field appeared in front of him like a shield, blocking the electrified needles that were zooming towards him just in time. He backed up and ordered the rest of his troops again. They all turned on their own force field wristwatches, creating a large, flat, transparent shield around them all.

Both Detlev and Viktor froze and then began to making a strange buzzing sound, and then their skin turned pitch black. In a few seconds I watched in horror as they morphed into two giant masses of black plasma with red slits for eyes and suction mouths.

"FIRE!" screamed the General.

The soldiers all fired their MSGs, but the electrified needles passed straight through them. The two monsters lunged forward and began to eat away at the force field around the soldiers.

"RETREAT! EVERYONE RETREAT! SOMEONE GET MR. PRESIDENT!" shouted the General.

Three soldiers ran forward from the crowd and two of them created a force field around me, and the last one freed me from my bonds on the table. When he saw that I had nails punctured into my feet he screamed for more soldiers. I wasn't sure whether the entire scene was just a hallucination or not, but all I remembered before I blacked out was being carried up quickly by several soldiers. The last thing I heard was a loud electric explosion, but after that I drifted off into unconsciousness.

**Oh my Poptart! I was cringing in pain just reading that! Will Clarence Jordanship be able to escape Detlev's clutches? Will the General and his soldiers survive? Will Detlev gain access to the information he needs?! Find out next chapter in THE GLITCH!**

***Enderdude keeps walking, and after a minute he reaches the brain***

***he walks up and pokes the gray matter***

**"OW! What the Poptart are you doing in there?!" protested Pastrinator64.**

***the brain shakes and Enderdude is knocked back, and he falls through the squishy floor and lands on something bony***

***he clings onto the bones and realizes that he is hanging onto Pastrinator64's spinal cord***


	38. Chapter 38: The Almost-Reunion

**Hello, this is Pastrinator64 with another chapter from THE GLITCH. Last time on THE GLITCH we watched as the President of the United States was interrogated by the chancellor of Germany: Detlev Kaiser. After refusing to give out the information even after needles, knife slashes and rusty nail puncturing, Detlev finally decided to go on and kill his uncooperative prisoner, but that's when General Chase Newman and his soldiers burst through the door to rescue the President. But, the Glitch has been revealed to have possessed Detlev as well, and both Detlev and his accomplice turned into plasma masses to attack! Now we turn back to Norman as he goes throughout the land looking for the rest of his somehow alive friends.**

**Now, let the story commence!**

_Chapter 38: The "Almost" Reunion_

They had found Bailey and Butterball and Blackberry. The three had made a camp in the middle of the forest, which was just a small dirt hut with a door. When Bailey saw him she rushed forward and tackled him in a very painful bear hug.

"NORMAN! Where in the Overworld did you come from? Last I saw was a blinding flash of light when you jumped off the ship and I woke up as though I were in a dream in this forest with Butterball and Blackberry! Everyone was gone! What happened?"

Norman struggled to breath and tapped her on the shoulder.

"Bailey... Can't... BREATH..."

She finally let him go and he almost collapsed to the ground gasping. After a few seconds he had caught his breath, so he stood back up and explained everything that had happened since her recollection. When he was finished she finally noticed that Joe and Calista were standing behind Norman. She walked forward and shook Joe's hand.

"Hi, I'm Bailey."

Butterball poked out from the trees and scuttled forward. Joe's automatic reaction was to run forward with his weapon. He did just that, and then he jumped up into the air and yelled out, his camera with the diamond lens cap ready to strike.

"STOP!" screamed Bailey.

As if he were in a cartoon Joe froze to a screeching halt, his mouth open. Bailey walked over past the frozen Joe and petted Butterball on the head.

"Butterball here is my pet and companion. I'm a Creeperwhisperer." she explained.

Joe quickly switched into rewind mode and flew back onto the ground in the opposite way as he had jumped. Norman wasn't exactly sure how that was physically possible, but he didn't feel like trying to figure it out.

Joe looked up and gasped, finally noticing that Blackberry was standing above them. He was soon able to realize that she had also tamed the giant metal monster, so he calmed down a bit. Norman looked to his left and gasped, seeing that Calista was so overwhelmed by the Mechacreeper that she had fainted, and was lying unconscious on the ground. He helped her up and she came awake again, and she rubbed her head and moaned.

When she looked back up and saw Blackberry, she almost fainted a second time, but Bailey quickly stepped in and explained all about her being a Creeperwhisperer and that she had tamed both the regular and giant metal Creeper. Once Joe finally realized that they had Blackberry on their side he whooped and hollered. Norman, Joe and Calista all walked past a few trees and found Bailey's dirt hut sitting a few paces away.

They entered the little hut and Norman, Joe and Calista sat down on the grass across from Bailey. Butterball went to the corner and lay down to sleep in the grass.

"Ok, let's get down to business." said Norman. "Where is the rest of the group?"

"I don't know. I just blacked out on the ship and then *BOOM* I woke up here. No clue at all." she murmured.

Norman harrumphed and thought for a moment.

"I guess this means we'll have to go searching..."

Norman stood up and said,

"Alright, then we've got to leave now. No excuses. We need to find everyone."

No one really felt like arguing, so they all got up and headed out the door. Norman was thankful that no one argued, because they would've been wasting time.

They began to travel into the forest. Norman wanted to stay hidden, but with Blackberry's giant metal body thundering through the trees it was almost impossible for them to be stealthy. They were a total giveaway. Frequently they would come across a swarm of gathered hostile mobs that had followed them, and with the bugs in their programming some of them had the advantage. Thankfully, they were able to fight off whatever came at them until they entered a large hills biome.

Soon giant hills stretched high up into the air, all around and in different shapes. Everything was green and blue and beautiful. Norman looked around for any kind of house and finally he spotted a little brown house sat atop one of the large hill to his right.

"There's someone!" he declared.

He pointed out the house at the top of the large hill and they all started for it. Once they got to steeper slopes they had to break a few blocks to be able to jump up. Once they reached the top they found that the small shack was just ten or so blocks away.

They walked forward and Norman knocked at the door. Immediately, someone jumped out through the door and tackled Norman to the ground, holding a diamond blade to his neck.

"DANNY! IT'S ME! LET GO!" he shouted.

Danny stood back up and then walked into the doorframe of his house.

"Where did you come from?" he noticed the others and added, "Where did THEY come from?"

Norman explained the whole situation up until the part where they got to the top of the large hill.

"...And THAT'S when you jumped out and almost skewered me with your sword." he finished.

Danny thought for a moment. Finally, he sighed and said,

"Weird, because I just blacked out on the ship too, and then I woke up on this large hill. So, in other words, we have to leave to find everyone. Great, just what I need, MORE perilous travel..." he muttered.

But after a few minutes of convincing they were on their way again. First they chopped down the wooden cabin for some extra supplies, and then they traveled back down off the other side of the large hill.

Soon they had left the surprisingly small large hill biome and entered another forest. Around the edge of the forest they saw a small room built into the side of a medium-sized hill with just a door to give it away. Norman peered through the cracks in the door and looked around inside. There were torches, a furnace and a bed. That was it. He was about to knock when Danny pushed him aside and came charging through the door with his sword.

Immediately he stopped to see Quinn standing in the corner, turned in their direction. He was petting Doughbelly, who had grown already to the size of a regular block.

"You're getting a bit big, Doughbelly." he muttered.

He looked over and grinned when he saw his friends coming in through the doorway.

"Dudes! Finally! I've been looking for you guys!"

He ran over and hugged both Norman and Bailey really awkwardly and was about to put his arms around Danny when Danny held out his sword.

"Touch me and perish..."

Quinn backed up and muttered,

"Alright, man, be cool."

He looked around and noticed Joe and Calista.

"So, who're the new guys? Well, guy and girl."

Joe came forward and said,

"Hey little dude, my name's Joe Camera."

"Quinn Dragonegg. Woah! Wait, you have one of those rare block thingies? That's wicked!" replied Quinn.

Joe nodded and said,

"Yup, sometimes it sucks buckets but other times it's really cool."

Quinn stepped forward and even though he never had seen Calista in his life he walked forward and hugged her like she was his best friend.

"Hi, I'm Quinn!" he declared.

Calista pushed him away and blushed immensely.

"Um, hi. I'm... Calista." she murmured timidly.

"You smell like flowers." he commented.

Norman stepped in quickly and said,

"Alright, I think that's a good enough greeting, Quinn."

Quinn looked behind Calista and noticed Boysenberry staring at him through the doorway. He gained a huge grin and then called to Doughbelly on the other side of the room, who came trotting over.

"Doughbelly! I found you a playmate!"

Doughbelly looked through the doorway and saw the Frienderdragon, and immediately he let out a loud croak and leaped forward onto Boysenberry's nose, who backed up and let out an even louder croak. When everyone was out of the house they saw Doughbelly bouncing playfully on Boysenberry's neck—Boysenberry seemed equally excited.

Norman turned around and faced his ever-growing group of friends.

"Alright, we still need to find ONE more person, and that's Lizzy."

Lizzy was Norman's main priority from the start. They traveled through the forest, quickly exiting onto a stretch of plains. Sitting right in the middle of a patch of roses was a dirt shack with just an empty doorway as an entrance. Norman called out first,

"Helloooooooo? Anybody there?"

When no one answered he walked towards the empty doorway and peered inside. It was only a 5x7x3 space, and unfortunately was completely empty. Suddenly, he felt a shiver down a spine and soon after heard a scream. He looked around at his friends, who were just standing there, frozen completely as though time had stopped. Everything turned black and white and Norman quickly turned around, looking for the source of the scream.

Finally, he ran around back of the dirt hut and screamed himself and fell backwards, scrambling and breathing heavily. Standing there in front of him was Slenderman, his arms reaching out to grab him. He had only played Slender once, and when he did his older brother had duct-taped him to a chair and plopped him in front of his laptop to watch as he was playing Slender. Since he was duct-taped he couldn't move, and eventually Slenderman just appeared in front of him and killed him while he was immobilized, wetting his pants. Ever since he was freaked out about Slenderman.

Norman panted and looked above Slenderman, seeing that his tentacles were out. And they were wrapped around Lizzy, who was struggling and screaming at the top of her lungs.

"NORMAN! HELP! PLEASE! HELP ME! NORMAN, PLEASE!"

Norman stood back up and held out Jeff's old iron sword as to threaten Slenderman. As if he was bored, Slenderman began to slowly turn around and walk away, but Norman jumped up and slashed at one of the tentacles wrapped around Lizzy. But the blade just bounced right off. Slenderman stopped and turned back around to face Norman, who backed up immediately in fear. Suddenly, a creepy voice echoed through his mind.

**"Don't you know that weapons of this dimension do not affect me? If you ever want to save her, you'll have to come to MY dimension and survive through Slender. If you collect all the notes, only then will you be allowed a chance to fight me. If you choose not, this minor will suffer a long and torturing death before I chop her up and eat her. Goodbye, Norman..."**

Slenderman turned around again and then lifted slightly into the air. He began to glide ghoulishly away, leaving an almost visible trail of cold behind him. Lizzy's screams echoed through the air as she drifted farther and farther away until both she and Slenderman were gone.

Everything regained its color and the air's cold vanished, replaced with the normal summery air. Instantly he heard voices behind him, confused ones. He heard footsteps and turned around to see his friends running around the dirt shack towards him.

"Norman, what happened just now?! One minute you were there and then now you're here!" exclaimed Bailey.

Norman paused for a few seconds, trying to process what had just happened. Once he was finished he explained.

"I... I was standing, and then I felt a shiver down my back and everything turned black and white. You guys froze like time had stopped, and I was the only one moving. I heard a scream and... And I ran around back of the hut, and Slenderman was there. In his... Tentacles, yes, tentacles, being held captive was Lizzy, who was screaming for her life. I tried to slice off his tentacles, but he seemed unaffected. He spoke to me in my mind saying that I had to come into his dimension and survive through Slender in order to be allowed to fight him and possibly save Lizzy. Until then, he said that he's going to TORTURE her! I can't let that happen!"

Norman looked off into the distance where Slenderman and Lizzy had disappeared. Suddenly, he heard Slenderman's voice in his head once more.

**"Number 38. DO NOT BE LATE!"**

"We have to find the 38th Dimension, that's his." said Norman. "But how are we going to get there?"

**Yeah, how ARE they going to get to the 38th Dimension, the dimension of Slender? Will Norman be able to find and rescue Lizzy from Slenderman's tentacles? Will she even survive Slenderman's tormenting long enough for Norman to arrive? Find out next chapter in THE GLITCH!**

***Enderdude holds up the mico-microphone to his mouth while balancing on Pastrinator64's spinal cord***

**"Uh, guys? I fell down onto Pastrinator64's spinal cord, and its too big around for me to climb back up!" he declares.**

***from outside luvr speaks,***

**"Then I guess your just going to have to get out of there the hard way!"**

***about ten minutes later Pastrinator64 starts squirming in his chair***

**"Dang it! I really gotta use the bathroom!"**


	39. Chapter 39: Behind the Scenes

**Hello, this is Pastrinator64 with another chapter from THE GLITCH. Last time on THE GLITCH we watched as Norman traveled from biome to biome to find his friends, and thankfully he was able to find every one of them. Unfortunately, though, when he found Lizzy, she was being held captive by Slenderman-the Glitch's orders, probably-and was taken away to his dimension to be tortured to the death. Now Norman is trying to find a way to get to the Slender Dimension and save Lizzy from her painful fate.**

**Now, let the story commence!**

_Chapter 39: Behind the Scenes_

Norman couldn't think for very long, because his thoughts kept wandering to Lizzy and her lethally painful fate. He didn't know the first thing about traveling to other dimensions. Finally, he was so frustrated that he just kicked the dirt hut next to him. Suddenly, the dirt hut began to rumble, and then it sank slowly into the dirt ground. Norman looked down where it had sunk confusedly and gasped, because one of the blocks of dirt had a strange whitish glow to it. There was something underneath.

"Guys! Take a look at this!" he said, gesturing for everyone to come over and look at the glowing dirt in the center of the hole.

"It's invaders from Mars!" declared Quinn.

Norman punched away the dirt block and gasped when he saw a glowing block of iron. He gestured for everyone else to start digging, so they did. After a minute of digging they had dug up an entire fully-functional portal. This portal was the same size as a Nether portal but instead had an iron block frame. Starting with the bottom left-hand corner and going all the way around clockwise were numbers, starting at one and ending at ten. The portal blocks themselves were pure white and glowing brightly.

"What kind of portal is this? I know I've heard of it in a mod somewhere..." muttered Joe.

Suddenly, Quinn had an idea and pulled off his Blockpack that he still had with him. He zipped it open and grunted as he lifted out The Modloader's Guide and placed it on the ground. Norman turned around and noticed it; he had completely forgotten about the stolen book. Everyone crowded around the book as Quinn flipped through the pages.

"Ok, P. Penguins, Peppers, Poop... Ew. Aha! Here it is: Portals!" declared Quinn.

He flipped more slowly this time, and thankfully the first portal that came up was the right one and looked exactly like the one they had dug up.

"Ok, this is a mod portal called a dimension portal. Basically, this portal was programmed in 2410 to let the player go to a number of different games based on their dimensions. It has a bunch of coordinates. To use coordinates you punch the numbers on the frame to create a number in under three seconds, and whatever number shows up above the portal is the dimension ID. Also, this portal is an instant-acting portal, so there isn't any wait, you just step through once it's ready. But if you step through before putting in coordinates you die instantly." explained Quinn.

Norman stood up and walked down until he was standing in front of the dimension portal and looked at the numbers around the frame. They needed to go to Dimension 38, so he first punched the iron block with the three and then quickly the eight. Another second later a buzzing sound emitted and the whitish portal blocks became transparent like glass for Norman to see through. He was looking into a dark and realistic forest that had a large square of cleared area lined with candles around it like a starting area. There was a dusty box in the center.

Norman gulped and looked at the dirt block in his hand. As an experiment he put just his arm through and immediately felt the temperature drop on the other side by forty degrees. He looked at the dirt that once was a block in his hand, which was now just a clump of mud. Part of his arm and his entire hand had also turned into a regular human kind. He pulled his hand back and it returned to the warm temperature, the mud clump turned into a dirt block and his hand and arm returned to its other blocky shape. Suddenly, a warning beep emitted from the portal and Norman quickly jumped inside, getting the full blast of cold air. He turned around just in time to see the portal behind him turn white again.

He was about to punch in the coordinates again to get back to his friends when he realized that the numbers were completely gone. Also, after a few seconds of waiting his friends did not come back through the other side. He began to panic and thoughts raced through his head.

"Oh my God, I'm alone in Slender, there's no one with me, I'm going to die. I can't believe it, this is too freaky for me, I can't do it..."

"Yes you will."

Norman looked up and gasped, seeing Slenderman standing there looking at him. He would've laughed if he wasn't so terrified, because this Slenderman had a face that looked like it was drawn on. He was smiling and had two bright and happy eyes.

"Slender... Man? Slenderman, what the heck happened to you? Are you a defective clone?" he muttered.

The Slenderman clone sighed and said,

"Well, I know that I'm smiling and look happy. You already probably noticed that my voice is so much gentler than Slenderman's. I'm not a defective clone, just a clone that can't catch a minor."

The other Slenderman walked into the area of candlelit grass and extended one of his tentacles to Norman. Norman hesitantly shook it, still unsure of what to do. Although, this Slenderman had a very soft and warm tentacle unlike the original, who's tentacles were cold and whip-like. The other Slenderman sat down in front of Norman, who also sat down, a bit curious.

"Here, you'll probably listen; you're just another minor who won't be afraid of me. You see, Slenderman sends out duplicates of himself to catch and take wandering minors to him for him to deal with, but I couldn't seem to catch any minor. I wasn't scary enough. So Slenderman punished me, making me look and sound and even feel gentle and friendly." he shuddered. "It's terrible. I've even lost my appetite for minors and I'm becoming a vegan. Anyway, my name is Clone70." he said.

Norman awkwardly shook Clone70's bony hand and said,

"I'm. Norman."

"Why are you in Slender? Are you game-jumping? We had some guy named Ralph—this guy had giant hands, strangely enough—come in here earlier looking for some hyperactive little girl we accidently transported here from another game, he was game-jumping."

Norman nodded and decided that he should explain the whole thing. After a whole ten minute story summary Clone70 just stayed silent. Finally, he said,

"Wow. That makes my life seem like paradise."

"Ok, I need you to tell me how to find all the notes without getting attacked by the other Slenderman clones. My best friend was captured for no stinking reason by Slenderman, and I need to save her. Slenderman told me that until I found all the notes around in this forest she would be tortured, and I can't let that happen!" he explained.

Slenderman's eyes widened and he shook his head, muttering,

"Oh no, not that..."

"What? What did I say?" Norman replied anxiously.

"I mean, "oh no" to the torture. She won't last long if it's being done by Slenderman personally. He's RUTHLESS! Every one of his clones had to watch how he actually tortured the minors he caught before they died in case we had to take over his job one day!"

Norman paused for a moment and held his breath.

"What does he do?"

* * *

Lizzy lay in the dark room. She couldn't move, she felt cold and was soaked in sweat. She tried to get up, but she felt as though something were keeping her down.

Suddenly, a door opened in front of her and she saw Slenderman enter slowly, walking like a ghost would if it had legs. He closed the door behind him so that the room was plunged back into darkness. Suddenly, a bright light flickered on and she could see.

She was shackled down to a smooth stone table. She only had a T-shirt and shorts left on, and the room was actually quite bare. Slenderman stood in front of her.

**"Hello, Lizzy Cake. Yes, I know your name. I know all about you. I know your desires, your secrets, and most of all, YOUR FEARS. There is nothing you can hide from me."**

Lizzy could only hear her own shallow breath when everything else was silent.

**"Every once in a while I decide to torture the minors I eat personally rather than having my clones do it for me. And just for this occasion I chose you. And I choose you for two specific reasons."**

Lizzy silently began to cry, whimpering a little, panicking immensely on the inside.

**"One, because this will keep your friend Norman one step farther from achieving his goal and killing the Glitch. And two, which is actually the more important one, because of what your worst fear is."**

At hearing this Lizzy began to pant, struggling with the bonds on her wrists and ankles that prevented her from moving.

**"You are the perfect recipient for this kind of torture, girl. I think I will have more fun than I've ever had with any other minor."**

Suddenly, Lizzy looked up to see Slenderman holding one of his tentacles with his hand. Suddenly, he detached it with a sickening pop and then set in beside Lizzy on the table where she was pinned down. Suddenly, the black tentacle shrunk to a meter in length. It grew two black eyes and a snake mouth. It had turned into an actual living snake.

The snake raised its head to look at Lizzy, who was terrified. It let out a hiss and all its scales grew little prickly-looking tabs that moved up and down around the snake's body silently.

**"Meet Risilla, my pet snake. She is my professional torturer, and loves what she does. She will be getting to know you as we go through this process, and I'm sure that she will like you VERY much."**

Risilla slithered closer to Lizzy so that they were a mere centimeter apart. She hissed again.

**"Let's begin..."**

* * *

"Tickling?! Come on, of all the torture he could pick he picked tickling?! Lizzy hates that!" screamed Norman.

Clone70 raised his hands and said,

"Don't blame me for anything, I didn't pick it! All I remember Slenderman saying about his choice was that he found he got a better reaction out of it than any other form! Is this really her worst fear?"

"Yes! She told me herself once when we were at my house!"

Norman stood up and ran past Clone70 towards the edge of the candlelit area. Clone70 yelled out and lunged forward, grabbing Norman by one leg and tripping him.

"Norman, kid, what are you thinking?!" he pointed to the square of candles around them and continued with, "This square is the starting area that used to be in the game but isn't anymore because Slenderman didn't want it. He never had it removed and soon forgot where it was, but right now if you leave the starting area you are instantly being tracked by a Slenderman clone."

Clone70 lurched one of his tentacles over to the dusty box sitting in the middle of the area and pulled out a battered flashlight. He flipped it on, but it didn't turn on. He knocked it with his fist a couple times and then it flickered on with a dull and insufficient light.

"You need this to stay alive. Without light, you're doomed. Rule number one for Slender, never look behind you, that's an invite for a clone to come and get you. Rule number two, always keep moving to avoid being caught. And rule number three, when you see a Slenderman clone run to the side but not around behind you and avoid any eye contact, because you'll slow down and your vision will become full of static. I shouldn't be doing this, but since I gave up my job I'm going to come with you, I might be able to talk to other clones about this. At least, if they'll listen." he added.

Norman didn't even think for a moment before he grabbed the flashlight and walked towards the border of candles. He looked behind him at Clone70, who was right with him. Finally, he took a deep breath and stepped over the line.

Norman frequently looked around for any Slenderman clones, but thankfully they were not attacked. After a few minutes Norman found a note nailed up against a tree that was written in blood. It read,

**And so it**

**begins...**

Norman slowly ripped the note off the tree and suddenly felt another shiver down his spine. Some words and appeared in front of him on the tree in red.

**Page 1 of 8 collected**

"Now is when a clone will start to follow you, kid. Be on the watch..." muttered Clone70.

Norman let in a deep breath again to attempt to calm his nerves as he continued on through the forest. The forest was silent except for his footsteps. Clone70 was silent, and when Norman looked back he saw that the clone slowly gliding behind instead. Norman had always wondered whether Slenderman teleported or just glided really fast.

He continued to collect the creepy notes for a while, and eerily he was never attacked. Norman looked around two trees and saw a third one with the seventh note. He couldn't believe the luck he was having. He was about to rip it off when he caught a glimpse of something in the distance. A Slenderman clone had spotted him.

Norman quickly ducked behind the tree and breathed heavily. Clone70 did the same—or tried to with his long and gangly body—and muttered,

"Dang it, we've been spotted. If the clone saw me he's going to come over and beat me up, I'm the target for all the clones!"

Norman looked back around and gasped, suddenly meeting the cold tentacles of the Slenderman clone.

* * *

Back in the torture room, Risilla had slithered up onto Lizzy's legs, who was shivering violently with fear. Suddenly, Slenderman snapped his fingers and all the lights in the room shut off, plunging her into complete darkness. Then, something was wrapped around her mouth like a gag so that she fell silent.

She felt something slither past her right foot and whimpered again. Suddenly, she felt Risilla's body coil around her foot. Then, something soft began to lightly stroke her sole. Lizzy giggled, but fear bubbled up even worse inside her. The stroking became more relentless, and Lizzy struggled not to burst out laughing.

Finally, a minute later Risilla's tail dug into the tender and sensitive skin of her sole and she started to laugh out loud, but her sound was muffled by the gag, and she started begging for it to stop. But no such thing happened...

* * *

Norman was about to be snapped up and taken away when Clone70 jumped in and said,

"Clone69, this is none of your business. He is not the right kind of minor, he is game-jumping, and if you take the wrong kind of minor to Slenderman he won't be happy."

The Slenderman clone dubbed Clone69 stood up straight, towering over Clone70.

**"Oh, Clone70! Funny seeing you here, you great big TEDDY BEAR! So, how's being friendly going for you?"** taunted Clone69.

Clone70 let out a grumbling noise and muttered,

"I'm not a teddy bear, you idiot. I've... I've already caught this minor, and I'm going to eat him myself! Just as soon as you leave, though!"

Clone69 leaned up against the tree and looked at Norman.

**"He's quite the shrimp. Go ahead; prove that you're a real clone and not some softie. I heard that you're going VEGAN, and I'm hoping that by watching this you will prove otherwise."**

Clone70 looked down at Norman, who was sure it was the end of him. He figured that he wasn't worth it to the clone, and he braced himself for the tentacles to come, snap him up into little pieces and then be eaten.

**"I'm waiting..."**

Clone70 hesitated for a moment, but then his tentacles came back out and floated slowly towards Norman. Finally, just as the tentacles were an inch from Norman's face Clone70 whirled around and smacked Clone69 upside the nose, who grunted and fell to the ground. Cloen70 was about to get Norman away when he was grabbed by Clone69 and pulled to the ground, making the two clones engage in a full-out fight. Norman ripped off the note and stared at Clone70, who quickly yelled,

"NORMAN! GO! DON'T... STAY! LEAVE! I CAN'T KEEP HIM VERY LONG!"

Norman obeyed and ran around the tree, running from the two brawling clones. While he was running, though, his flashlight began to dim, and then died completely. He looked around at the dark forest, looking frantically for the eighth page he had to find. With only the moonlight to guide him, he walked slowly through the forest, his footsteps crunching in the dead fallen leaves. Finally, he saw it, the eighth page, lying in between two trees. He picked it up and read it,

**Good luck**

**saving her**

Just a few seconds later, Norman felt a strange feeling in his gut and then found himself traveling through the air. Finally, he landed again in an open clearing somewhere else in the forest. Sitting there in the center was a small gray cement building. He could hear screams coming from inside.

**Oh no! Will Lizzy die from her lack of breath? Will Norman stand a chance against Slenderman without any weapon? Does Risilla have some secret self-defense that could kill Norman? Find out next chapter in THE GLITCH!**

***luvr unties Pastrinator64 and he runs off to the bathroom***

***ten minutes of painful grunting later, Pastrinator64 comes out holding a miniaturized Enderdude-thankfully clean***

**"Seriously?!" screamed Enderdude.**


	40. Chapter 40: The Spirits In Between

**Hello, this is Pastrinator64 with another chapter from THE GLITCH. Last time on THE GLITCH we watched as Norman made his way through the Slender Dimension to rescue from Slenderman's clutches. He had some help from a defective clone named Clone70, and finally he was able to collect all eight pages. Now we find him bursting into the room where Lizzy is being tortured to rescue her, only to find himself outmatched.**

**Now, let the story commence!**

_Chapter 40: The Spirits In Between_

Norman ran up to the door and burst through it into the room. The moonlight filled the room and he saw Slenderman standing over Lizzy, who was strapped down to a stone table in the middle. A black snake was coiled around her foot, relentlessly tickling her sole. Lizzy was crying and screaming and laughing and begging, but when she saw the light she looked up and screamed,

"NORMAN!"

Risilla, the snake, stopped and slid off the stone table towards Norman, hissing angrily. Slenderman walked forward and towered over Norman, saying,

**"What is this?! You can't have possibly collected all eight pages!"** he pointed to Norman and declared, **"Risilla, kill him!**"

Risilla rose up on her tail to her full meter height. The bristly little tabs along her scales turned to needles and extended another centimeter, shining bright with glare. She lunged forward and Norman gasped in pain as he was tackled to the ground by the snake/cactus creature, or whatever it was.

Even though needles were stabbing his hands, he grabbed Risilla's neck and stretched her painfully. She whipped his legs with her tail and he fell down with her on top of him. The snake opened its mouth and revealed some deadly fangs. She lunged downward and bit Norman on the cheek where his old arrow wound had scabbed up, opening it again and letting out a flow of new blood.

He yelled out in pain and strangled Risilla, closing her mouth and twisting her neck around. While being gripped Risilla loosened her mouth and continually bit Norman's hand, and he screamed in pain but kept twisting as hard as he could. Finally, the snake's head snapped off with a sickening lurch and he was splattered with blood. The snake head flew in one direction, landing smoking on the ground beside him. He soon realized that the bites he gained were poisonous, and he began to feel a dull pain that made him very weak. He struggled to stand up and Slenderman taunted him.

**"You simpleton, you do realize that even without the poisoning you just received that you would never be able to kill me? EVEN THE GRIM REAPER CHECKS UNDER HIS BED FOR ME! I am not one to be fooled with!"** Slenderman said as the tentacle that had transformed into Risilla slowly began to grow back.

Norman knew that he only had one weapon to use, and he slowly reached towards Risilla's disembodied head to his right. Suddenly, Slenderman launched himself forward, and Norman thrust the head upward. Before Slenderman could react, Risilla's poisonous fangs stabbed into his chest, seeping all the poison contained inside into his heart. He froze for a moment, silent, and then he collapsed to the ground, his tentacles in a smoking mess. His whole body decayed within two minutes, and finally all the smoke rose into the air and out of sight.

Norman could hear Lizzy screaming for him inside the building. He crawled through the door, even weaker with the poison as is entered his bloodstream. He looked up and saw Lizzy, still struggling to break off the shackles on her wrists and ankles. Norman steadied himself and balanced himself on the stone table. He was about to loosen the ones on her ankles when he noticed that Risilla had created a large and complicated on her right foot where she had coiled around and dug her tail into. The scars were formed into words that read,

**I HOPE YOU HAD FUN**

Norman shivered and unshackled both her feet, then moved slowly to her wrists. As he was loosening one, Lizzy spoke to him frantically.

"I... I... Never... Want to... Be... Tickled... EVER... Again... Just help me... Out of here... I want... To get... Out of here..."

Norman couldn't reply, the poison was too strong and was numbing up his whole body. He struggled to get his hands to move, but he was able to break free Lizzy's left hand. But before he could even go to loosen the last shackle he fell to the ground in his pain and exhaustion. He blacked out.

* * *

Norman had a very strange dream during his unconsciousness. He was floating in a large white area, and there was nothing around him but light. He couldn't move, and felt like he was swimming in syrup. He wasn't breathing, but for some reason it seemed as though he didn't need to.

Suddenly, a silver wisp of smoke appeared a few meters from his position. The smoke swirled around until it formed a ghost with drooping wings. The ghost hovered for a few seconds, but then waved its two wings. Two identical ghosts appeared on either side of it. Suddenly, Norman heard a voice come from the middle one.

_"Norman, we are the Spirits in Between, the guardians of all dimensions, the ones who keep all time and space together in the delicate balance it requires. This dream is very, very important, and we must tell you something important of the Divination of Dimensions. Your previous thoughts on the prophecy are lies. You need not four, but EIGHT heroes to fulfill the prophecy, one being you. Six of the heroes are very near and dear to you now, and you must go to them before your time is up. The clock is ticking, and the Glitch is possessing dimensions faster than all three of us can heal them. Heed these words, Norman Cobweb, bring together all eight heroes; you have only one left to find. Goodbye, and may the forks be with you..."_

* * *

Norman awoke the next moment to see Joe standing over him with a large porkchop, poking it to his mouth. He was saying,

"Dude, I wish I had the fork mod to cut up this meat. Hey! You're alive!"

Norman grumbled and sat up, his whole body aching. He was no longer in the 38th Dimension inside Slender, but instead back on the grassy planes of Minecraft. He looked around Joe to see the rest of his friends standing behind looking anxious. He looked to his left and saw Lizzy standing there as well, and when he saw her he jumped to his feet, forgetting about his pain and running over to tackle her into a hug.

"LIZZY! HOW MANY TIMES AM I GOING TO LOSE YOU?" he declared, feeling relieved.

Lizzy embraced him in the hug and murmured,

"Norman, I'm so sorry about me running away, I was so stupid. It wasn't your fault that you wounded my face, it wasn't your fault that you became possessed by the Glitch and killed Jeff, and I'm so sorry!"

Norman heard some happy and dramatic music start to play, giving even more feeling to the mood. Suddenly, the music halted to a stop and both Norman and Lizzy stopped hugging for a moment to see what was going on.

Danny was shouting at the same group of musicians that had played Midna's Lament who had apparently followed them. He pushed them all away, yelling,

"Alright, enough with the love fest! Get out! Shoo! Scram!"

The musicians grumbled as they walked away with their instruments. Norman and Lizzy just stood there awkwardly for a moment, and finally Norman stepped in front of the group to gather everyone's attention.

"Ok, despite any of the terrible things that have happened, we are only one Doorway Drop away from having all of... Wait a minute, what about Skull and Crossbows? Was his Doorway Drop destroyed?!"

Thankfully, Quinn winked and opened up his Blockpack, taking out a small crossbow. But this crossbow was crafted from bones, and the string was actually bone cartilage instead, and had three built in slots for arrows.

"I think it's called the Crossbone. It looks like it can shoot three arrows at once. I bet it can shoot bones, too." decided Quinn.

Norman took the Crossbone in his hands and was surprised at how heavy it was. He didn't have any arrows, but since he rarely ever used his Doorway Drops he figured that he'd just keep it safe for now. He put it away in his own Blockpack and then continued with his speech.

"Like I was saying, we are only one Doorway Drop from having all of them, and once we have all of them we'll be able to go to the End and find the gates to the Glitch's prison in The Void. Also, we have slain four of the five clans and mutants the Glitch owns, so now we only have one more to find. If I recall correctly, Carnepodrida said that one of the five mutants was for a mob of the Nether, so that means we're going to have to go to the Nether in order to find the clan and mutant. I'm not sure exactly which Nether mob it will be, though." he declared.

Norman sighed and continued on with,

"Soooooo, we're going to have to find some obsidian in order to build a Nether portal. I guess that means we'll have to camp out here until then..."

Bailey, Danny, and even Quinn groaned when they heard that, because they had been around for this quest for a very long time too. They too had grown tiresome of their quest. Norman was sure that everyone wanted to just go home and relax for a change. Still, they set up camp there as the sun began to set along the horizon. Danny had to put a box of bedrock all the way around them and even above them; even though they didn't have light they weren't willing to take any chances whatsoever.

Norman felt around in the dark inside his Blockpack and eventually found his bed, which he placed on the ground. He could hear Lizzy next to him, doing the same, and so he said,

"Lizzy, there's something I've been meaning to—"

"Noobman, I'm not your idiot girlfriend!"

Norman quickly broke away the bed and moved five blocks away from who turned out to be Danny. He didn't really feel like writing in his journal that night. His body still was weak from the aftereffects of the poison—even though it was all gone—and he was tired beyond compare. So, he just flopped onto his bed and sighed. After only a minute he was able to drift lazily into sleep.

**C'mon, Norman, always make sure who you're talking to before you go on. Will Norman be able to muster up his courage and tell Lizzy how he feels about her? Will Slenderman somehow come back for revenge against him? Will they be able to find the very final clan and mutant and finally be able to end the Glitch's reign once and for all? Find out next chapter in THE GLITCH!**

***luvr pulls out a different ray gun and zaps the tiny Enderdude, who grows back to normal size***

***Enderdude runs over and clenches his fists at her***

**"I am NEVER going to volunteer for something like that again!"**

***Pastrinator64 pipes up from behind and says,***

**"Alright, can we just be done with this if I tell you what my motives for leaving were instead of you interrogating me?"**

**"Fine, just tell us what those "motives" are..." says luvr.**


	41. Chapter 41: Obsidiman

**Hello, this is Pastrinator64 with another chapter from THE GLITCH. Last time on THE GLITCH we watched as Norman battled and won against both Risilla AND Slenderman under the impossible odds. He was able to rescue Lizzy, but blacked out before they could get back home. In his dream he was instructed by the Spirits In Between about his true role in the Divination of Dimensions, his own prophecy. Then he was sent back by the ancient beings to his friends and he was revived. Now we watch as the group has to go mining for obsidian in order to travel to the Nether where they will find the final clan and mutant.**

**Now, let the story commence!**

_Chapter 41: Obsidiman_

The next morning Norman awoke feeling surprisingly healthy and strong. He smiled and sighed as he sat up and stretched. Everyone around him was sleeping—he could practically feel the vibrations coming from the combination of Danny and Joe's snores—so he stood up in the dark quietly and searched around inside his Blockpack. He took out Jeff's sword and took a moment to think about him. Then he took out his armor and felt his way back onto his bed, setting the pieces of diamond armor back on the covers for when they were to leave.

About ten minutes later Danny finally had gotten up and groggily removed the ceiling above them, letting in the morning light. Once everyone else was awake he removed the walls as well.

"Alright, everyone," said Norman, putting himself in front of his bleary companions. "It's time for us to get underground and start our search for obsidian."

Everyone groaned as they got out their pickaxes. Clearly, everyone was extremely bored that morning, wishing for a change for their situation. But, since nothing interesting could happen, they sucked up and spent the entire day mining. They only found two blocks of obsidian.

* * *

The next day was spent mining. One block of obsidian.

* * *

Again, more mining. Three blocks of obsidian. Only four more.

* * *

But the next day of mining was a bit different then what they had experienced before. Something interesting actually happened. As Norman was mining underground in search of obsidian, clearly bored, he stumbled across a door sitting up against some stone leading to a passage. Only thing was, the door was made of obsidian.

He couldn't open it, and it was harder than an iron door, so he merely mined his way around it. He began to slowly walk through the small tunnel, and gasped when he came through the other end. He found himself in a perfectly cubical room about 50x50x50. Everything was obsidian. He practically skipped with joy as he mined away at the nearest block to his right with one of Joe's spare diamond pickaxes. But as soon as his pick wedged into the obsidian a booming voice echoed through the room.

"OW! WHO JUST DID THAT?!"

Norman fell to the ground as the obsidian floor rumbled violently. Norman stared as the obsidian blocks in the center of the room began to float up into the air. They connected together, forming a giant obsidian figure. This figure looked humanoid, and even had a badly detailed face. The obsidian giant thundered as it walked towards Norman.

Norman backed up against the wall to get out of the room through the passage, but it had sealed itself up. The obsidian giant thundered closer until it reached Norman's diamond pickaxe. The giant looked at the pick for a moment, but then lifted up an obsidian foot and crushed it underneath like it was paper.

"ALRIGHT, WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY LAIR?!"

Norman froze for a second, and when he didn't answer right away the obsidian giant spoke again.

"I AM THE GREAT OBSIDIMAN, AND I DO NOT TAKE KINDLY TO INTRUDERS!"

Norman suddenly realized that he was hardly fazed by this new monster. He had seen so many strange occurrences lately that he wasn't exactly super surprised anymore.

"I was just looking for some obsidian for a Nether portal I have to build. I need four more." muttered Norman, almost too tired to deal with anything.

Obsidiman smashed his foot on the ground, making Norman jump up and then land painfully on his backside.

"I AM NOT GOING TO GIVE YOU MY OBSIDIAN, IF THAT IS WHAT YOU ASK OF ME! I DO NOT GIVE AWAY OBSIDIAN ON JUST ANY DAY! I ONLY DO SO EVERY 16,000 YEARS! BEGONE, PUNY HUMAN!" he exclaimed.

Norman was so sick and tired of searching for the obsidian they needed that he tried to think of a way to get four blocks of obsidian without getting squashed. Suddenly, he felt something extremely hot drop on his shoulder and he gasped in pain, looking to see that it was dripping lava. He looked above and noticed many droplets of lava coming down through the ceiling above. And that's when he saw that just ONE of the stone blocks in the center of the ceiling had been missed, as it was still sitting there. Norman had a plan, but he needed to get up to the ceiling somehow.

Suddenly, a new idea popped into his head and he ran to the side near the obsidian wall behind him.

"Oh yeah?" he said, waving his arms. "Then come and get me!"

Obsidiman thrust his arm forward, which collided with the wall. Norman jumped out his arm, so he used the other arm, but missed again. Norman kept jumping from arm to arm, every time he would be thrust at he would back up to avoid the hit and then jump up before them arm could move. Soon he was escalating at a quick rate, and Obsidiman seemed to be stupid enough not to realize this pattern, because he just kept trying to crush Norman.

Eventually Obsidiman had to use extra obsidian blocks to grow to keep up with Norman, who was already thirty or so blocks in the air. As Obsidiman was busy trying to raise himself up Norman hurriedly pulled out two iron pickaxes that he had brought as spares. He looked up at the single block of stone in the ceiling above and then looked at his iron picks.

Obsidiman continued again to repeatedly thrust his fist at Norman, but Norman already knew he was to slow to manage a perfect strike. Finally, Norman looked up and saw that he was a mere three blocks from the ceiling. So, before Obsidiman could react he ran down his obsidian arm to get closer to the center of the ceiling. Obsidiman used this opportunity to flick his arm backwards, sending Norman flying. Norman had planned this, and just as he was passing the stone block he thrust upward with one of his iron picks, wedging it into the ceiling right next to the stone.

Obsidiman looked up just as he saw Norman was hanging for dear life from his pickaxe, reaching for the stone.

"OH NO YOU DON'T YOU LITTLE TWERP!"

Obsidiman thrust his arm upward, but Norman yanked his iron pick from the obsidian and put it in between Obsidiman's fist and the ceiling, keeping them apart. Obsidiman's strength did not match that of his weight, so the iron pick stayed there, keeping him from crushing Norman as Norman stood on his fist, hacking away at the stone in the center. Norman took a quick glance at the iron pick, whose damage bar was dropping very quickly. Just as it was in the red Norman thrust upward with one final blow to the stone, making it break open, revealing a hole.

Norman jumped off Obsidiman's fist and began to freefall. While falling, he looked up to see lava pouring out onto Obsidiman's head. Obsidiman was so distracted by the lava that he didn't even think about getting away as it poured over his entire body, drowning him in it. Norman looked down to see that he was just ten blocks from the ground, but one block from the wall, so he thrust forward with his other iron pickaxe, wedging it into the wall, bringing him to a halt safely. He slowly inched his way down the rest of the wall and then landed on the obsidian floor, looking up at the gargantuan fountain of lava flowing over the motionless Obsidiman.

Suddenly, lava started to splash everywhere as though Obsidiman were crumbling to the ground. But the next moment, Norman watched in horror as Obsidiman's arms came out through the lava and began to scoop lava off his body. He quickly plugged up the hole flowing with lava with a block of obsidian, then scooped off the rest of the lava, pouring it out in the corner of the room. The now smoking Obsidiman stared down at Norman and declared,

"YOU REALLY THINK YOU CAN JUST POUR LAVA OVER ME TO DEFEAT ME?! I AM MADE OF OBSIDIAN, LAVA HAS NO EFFECT ON ME!"

Norman yelped and began to run around the room, looking for a way to get out as Obsidiman began to swat at him again. Everything he found was obsidian. He was able to keep dodging for another minute, but finally he turned around too late to see Obsidiman's swinging arm, and he was sent flying up, smashing into a wall. He could hear something important snap in half inside his body and he yelled out in pain.

All of a sudden, as he slid to the ground he heard an explosion. Obsidiman stopped and listened as well. Suddenly, another explosion occurred, but the obsidian ceiling was blast open in the center, raining down obsidian drops and particles onto Obsidiman, who growled with anger. Boysenberry the Frienderdragon came hurtling down through the hole, and before Obsidiman could react he was lifted up into the air and carried out into the sky far above. Norman looked up to watch the two monsters until they both disappeared. Suddenly, he saw Obsidiman hurtling back down into the hole, and he braced himself for impact.

Obsidiman collided with the ground, shaking the entire earth. Norman was bumped about ten blocks in the air, and then fell back down onto the ground with a thud. He looked up and even through his reddened vision he could see that Obsidiman's entire body had scattered around the room, half of it actually destroyed. Norman was glad that Frienderdragons were like Enderdragons in the fact that they could pass through obsidian.

Boysenberry flew lightly back down into the hole and moved away scattered obsidian blocks to land. He approached Norman and nudged him lightly. Norman knew what he needed to do, so he shakily stood up, but his back burned with intense pain as he hobbled slowly over to Boysenberry. He climbed onto his back and so the dragon flew up into the air, soon landing lightly back on the grass of the plains next to their camp.

Norman was so weak and in pain that he just slid off Boysenberry's back onto in back in the grass. People rushed up with food, and as he ate some cooked chicken he felt his wounds begin to heal themselves again. Once he was strong enough to walk, he stood up with the help of Joe and walked back to his bed in the camp, even though it hurt like heck. He sat down on the bed and Lizzy walked up to him.

"Did you break anything?" she asked.

Norman nodded tiredly and said,

"Yeah, something snapped when I got hit by Obsidiman, that obsidian giant down there."

Lizzy felt his shoulders, but nothing seemed to be broken. But when she touched Norman's back he grunted in pain and muttered,

"Ohhhh, yeah, I think I broke my spinal cord!"

Calista came forward with some cactus green and showed it to Norman.

"Here, this'll help. Once it seeps into your skin it should make its way into your bones, it helps heal. Just mush it up and rub it onto your back. I mean, you might need help, though." she added.

Norman looked around and grinned.

"So, who wants to rub my back? Heheheheh! Heh... Yeah, bad joke."

Lizzy actually volunteered to do it. Norman felt both glad and awkward at the same time. He was forced to take off his shirt. He was still pretty scrawny, so he was slightly embarrassed. As Lizzy took the cactus green paste and rubbed it into Norman's skin she said,

"So, does it hurt?"

"A little, yeah."

They just stayed in an awkward silence for a moment, but finally Norman said,

"Um, Lizzy?"

She stopped rubbing and paused for a moment.

"Yeah?"

Norman also paused for a moment, nervous about saying what he wanted to say. He made himself continue.

"Well, there's something important I... That I want to say."

"Yeah?"

"Well, um... I wanted to tell you that... That I..."

Lizzy leaned in closer with excited eyes and said,

"Yes?"

Norman paused. Again. For ten seconds. Finally,

"I wanted to say that I'm... I'm glad you were willing to help me with the cactus green."

Lizzy seemed disappointed but continued to rub in the cactus green.

"Oh, well, you're welcome." she murmured.

Norman was so annoyed with himself that he couldn't get himself to confess how much he loved Lizzy. He felt worthless. He also could've sworn that after Lizzy's reply that she was rubbing his back a lot harder than before.

**Poor Norman, he just can't get himself to do it. Will Norman ever be able to admit his love for Lizzy? Will his back heal enough for him to fight again? Will they be able to find the last clan and mutant? Find out next chapter in THE GLITCH!**

***Pastrinator64 sighs and then explains***

**"Well, I was going to go home and through my secret Nether portal to find Herobrine... He is... MY FATHER..."**

***luvr sinks to her knees and screams,***

**"Nuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!"**


	42. Chapter 42: Brotherly Hate

**Hello, this is Pastrinator64 with another chapter from THE GLITCH. Last time on THE GLITCH we saw Norman being attacked by an obsidian giant dubbed Obsidiman deep inside an obsidian cave. He had been searching for enough obsidian to mine and make a Nether portal frame, but of course he got way more obsidian than he was asking for. Thankfully, Boysenberry was able to break through the ceiling of the cave and destroy Obsidiman after Norman was injured, and Norman was brought up again to the surface to rest. At that point he was just about to confess his love to Lizzy, but then he chickened out AGAIN and it was left in the dust. Now we watch as Notch senses a disturbance in the Nether and tries to find out what it could be.**

**Now, let the story commence!**

_Chapter 42: Brotherly Hate_

As Notch walked down the hallway he felt a sudden sense of foreboding. He had a feeling that he needed to visit Herobrine in the Nether. He could hear screams of pain and anguish somewhere, and he knew it was in the Nether. Notch tried to walk through the crowd of deceased, but too many of his people were trying to stop him, trying to stay with him. He had to resort to creating a field of pressure around him so that he could part the crowd.

People called his name as Notch walked, but he ignored them. He didn't stop walking until he was out of the main hallway. He walked off into a smaller abandoned hallway branching off from the main one. He walked swiftly until he reached the end of the hallway where he found an open doorway.

Notch stepped through into his new portal room and faced his Nether portal. He walked through to the other end into the Nether, landing on the edge of where the lava moat to Herobrine's main Nether fortress. He waited impatiently for the gate to open, which is usually did on his arrival. When it didn't, he parted the lava and created a path for him to walk on. He walked right through the moat, and when he got to the gigantic gate made of soulsand he thrust out his arms, destroying the entire gate in an explosion.

Notch continued as he walked through the Nether fortress. He noticed that it was deserted for the first time. Absolutely no mob was in sight. He walked down the main hallway that he had used weeks ago to get to Herobrine's throne room. He finally reached the throne room and entered it. It was also abandoned. He looked around, sensing, waiting, thinking. Suddenly, he whirled around, unsheathed his diamond sword and felt it collide with another blade.

Herobrine, his eyes glowing brighter than ever, was standing there, trying to push down Notch's blade to kill him.

"Brother! What is the meaning of this?!" exclaimed Notch.

Herobrine did not answer, but just kept pushing down. Notch took his blade away and dodged a stab, jumping up and landing ten blocks away from Herobrine on top of Herobrine's soulsand throne. Herobrine rushed forward and brought up his sword to kill Notch, but Notch jumped off again and turned in midair to avoid the slash. He landed and launched himself forward to stab at Herobrine, but his possessed brother jumped back and then quickly ran forward with his blade to strike.

Notch and Herobrine were soon engaged in a furious swordfight, blades clashing and sparking as they swiftly blocked each other's blows. Notch did not give up; he knew he had trained himself much longer with a blade than Herobrine, but he wasn't sure what the Glitch had done to him that might aid him in battle.

He found out when Herobrine thrust his blade up to knock Notch back and jerked his hand forward, spewing lava from his fingertips. Herobrine could control lava blocks, but not use himself as a lava-firing machine. Notch created extra armor code to put a protective "armor" barrier in front of him, parting the lava as it spewed at him. Finally he couldn't hold it any longer and yelled out, moving the barrier, forcing the lava stream to dissipate.

Notch ran back and blocked another blow. As he and Herobrine engaged again in their furious battle of the blades, they began to make their way into the Magma Springs behind the throne. Notch glanced behind him at the nearing lava, and then turned his attention back to Herobrine, who still hadn't said a word.

Suddenly, in that split moment where Notch had looked back Herobrine brought down his sword on Notch, forcing him to block. He kept pushing on Notch, the two of them inching slowly towards the lava pool. Notch took another glance behind him and saw that the lava had turned black and red, but it was still bubbling as lava would. Notch yelled out at Herobrine as he was being pushed towards the lava, trying to keep his blade up at the same time.

"HEROBRINE! LISTEN TO ME! I KNOW THAT YOU ARE IN THERE SOMEWHERE! THE GLITCH IS CORRUPTING YOU! FIGHT IT! DO NOT LET IT TAKE YOUR SOUL! YOU MUST REALIZE WHAT YOU ARE DOING!" he screamed.

But the possessed brother just pushed harder. Just as Notch's heel touched the edge of the pool of lava/plasma he jumped backwards, flipping all the way over to the other end of the Magma Springs forty blocks away. Immediately he looked up just in time to block a swipe from Herobrine's blade. As they were fighting Notch quickly focused his thoughts on the wall behind him, and a second later it destroyed itself, and he and Herobrine kept moving, swinging their blades in furious swipes.

The hole led to open air, high up above a sea of lava. But, being ancient gods they continued to fight in midair, stepping backwards so that they were both flying. Notch flew backwards as he blocked Herobrine's blade again. Finally, he lifted up his foot and kicked Herobrine in the face, sending him flying back into the wall of the Nether fortress. Notch flew back and screamed,

"HEROBRINE! FIGHT! YOU MUST STAY STRONG! CONTROL THE GLITCH, DO NOT LET IT CONTROL YOU!"

Herobrine suddenly began to writhe around in midair, pounding his fists on the nether brick wall.

"GET OUT! GET OUT OF MY MIND, YOU EVIL BEING!" screamed Herobrine.

Suddenly, he stiffed up for a moment and then crouched down into a strange position, and his voice changed.

_"Noooooo, you are not strong enough to resist me! Give your mind up to me!"_

Herobrine's voice returned and he began to scream again. Finally, he stopped screaming and yelled out with an angry cry, flying forward at Notch with his blade out. But Notch thrust both hands forward, sending out a blast of glowing water that did not evaporate, even in the Nether. Herobrine was caught in the drowning blast, and Notch forced it harder upon him, determined to drive the Glitch out.

But suddenly, Herobrine thrust his hands from underneath the water, shooting his own blast of boiling lava, possessed lava with a black tinge. The two blasts met, pushing against each other, connecting in the middle and creating a shower of obsidian-colored explosions. Notch tried as hard, watching the ball of intertwining evil and good energy in the middle. It slowly began to move towards him, and he felt his arms shake violently.

"HEROBRINE! PLEASE! YOU ARE SLIPPING AWAY! THE GLITCH HAS POSSESSED YOU TO FAR! DO NOT LEAVE ME! STAY STRONG! YOU MUST!" he screamed, desperately trying to get through to Herobrine.

Suddenly, the Glitch's voice echoed throughout the air, coming from Herobrine's mouth.

_"You are too late, you old fool! He is gone completely!"_

Notch shook his head, not willing to believe it.

"NO! IF YOU ARE NOT GOING TO LEAVE MY BROTHER'S MIND, THEN I WILL FORCE YOU OUT!"

The Glitch's voice cackled in the air.

_"You are not strong enough to force me out! You have but a fraction of my power! I am a virus! THIS IS MY PURPOSE!"_

Notch yelled out in pain, still trying to keep the center where the two beams met from getting any closer. He struggled to keep Herobrine's attacks at bay as he concentrated. Notch grunted and yelled, and he watched in horror as the center explosions began to inch towards him even faster. He had little time left, and when he looked at his arms he saw them beginning to shrivel, his own code burning and shriveling up, flying away into the air around him. He couldn't let the Glitch win. There was only one other choice. Notch grunted and began to fly forward, inching his way towards the ball himself. He raised his arms, tensing them.

Suddenly, the sphere of explosive energy began to spark and glow as Notch glided closer. The Glitch's angry screams echoed through the burning air.

_"You idiot! You do not have the guts to kill your brother! Even if your intent is to destroy me, you will also destroy him and yourself in the process!"_

But Notch just stayed silent. He felt his body begin to fade away, just as he collided with the ball of energy. His entire being was absorbed into the explosions sphere, and before he faded away he used his last resort power, sending the ball of energy hurtling at Herobrine. On the collision, the Glitch's scream echoed through the air, and the explosion was so terrific that it expanded, consuming all of the Nether around it.

Soon the explosion destroyed all around it, the two Voids from above and below combining to form an unimaginable force of darkness that used to be the Nether. The hearts of two brothers that once beat as one died as one.

* * *

The Spirits in Between had felt the violent shudder of dying energy as well. Farixz the First collapsed to the blank white ground, trying to comprehend what had happened. As he was balancing on his wings he muttered,

_"How and why? What has happened? The Glitch, it was strong, and then it was gone. But two other souls also were gone. Two important and powerful souls died, but one seemed to kill the other. I do not understand..."_

Serisdo the Second and Thorvon the Third flew forward and approached Farixz. Serisdo spoke first, saying,

_"Farixz, do you feel the disturbance as well?"_

_"Yes, I can sense pain, and death, and the loss of two souls. The Glitch had been in a moment of power, but suddenly it diminished almost completely. I can sense its faint power now, which is nothing compared to what was a few moments ago. Something terrible has happened, and two important souls are now gone. They have died as one. I believe the two souls are the souls of Lord Notch and Lord Herobrine of the Minecraft Dimension, or the 64th Dimension. It must be, that is where the Glitch has been sealed away! But, this is impossible, the Glitch couldn't have killed Notch and Herobrine at the same time, they are both gods! They are immortal in their own dimension! The must have just faded away to the depths of The Void. They must be retrieved somehow!"_ replied Farixz.

Thorvon flew closer and said,

_"The only way to get two souls from out of The Void is to use our powers indirectly; we cannot go into The Void without being found by the Glitch's viruses plaguing the entire space. We cannot penetrate without using our powers from here in our dimension, the 0th Dimension."_

_"You are right,"_ said Farixz._ "That means we must meditate and reabsorb our powers and combine, only then will we be able to retrieve them."_

_"But how long must we meditate, Farixz?"_ asked Serisdo.

Farixz paused for a moment, thinking deeply. After a few silent moments he said,

_"I do not know... But, while we do meditate, we must hope that the heroes of the Divination of Dimensions are still continuing their quest. I do hope that they will somehow be able to reach the final clan and mutant, for I am not sure if the Nether has been destroyed as well. We can only hope..."_

* * *

At that moment, Norman too felt a sense of fear and foreboding. He fell off his bed, breathing hard and lying in the grass. He sat up—despite his back being broken and in pain—and looked around at his friends. Everyone was still asleep. He looked up into the sky, but when he looked at the stars his mind went to terrible thoughts; the stars were gone.

**No! It cannot be! NOTCH AND HEROBRINE ARE... DEAD! Will the three ancient beings-Farixz the First, Serisdo the Second, and Thorvon the Third-making up the Spirits In Between be able to revive Notch and Herobrine to life? Will both their empires collapse to the ground? Will Queen Enderdragon be able to handle ruling all of the Minecraft Dimension on her own? Find out next chapter in THE GLITCH!**

***suddenly, Herobrine crashes through the window of the bakery and lands on the table***

***Herobrine stands up and grabs Pastrinator64's arm***

**"Alright, son! I have to speak with you on a VERY IMPORTANT MATTER! You're coming with me!" he says.**

***Pastrinator64 is dragged out through the broken window by Herobrine and they fly out of sight on a cloud of smoke***


	43. Chapter 43: The Nether Jr

**Hello, this is Pastrinator64 with another chapter from THE GLITCH. Last time on THE GLITCH we watched the terrifying scene of Notch having to resort to fighting his own brother. Herobrine was now fully possessed by the Glitch! In the end, after a massive explosion of lethal code, both brothers and the entire Nether was consumed and destroyed. Now we watch as Norman and the gang try to enter the Nether that no longer exists, only to find themselves in an entirely different world.**

**Now, let the story commence!**

_Chapter 43: The Nether Jr._

Once everyone was awake the next morning they gathered up their supplies and headed down into the hole where Obsidiman used to dwell. They actually took fourteen obsidian instead of four just in case their portal was destroyed and they needed a new one. So, they also took a flint and steel to be able to light a possibly needed portal.

Once they had all their things gathered up Norman did the honors of creating the portal frame and lighting it. Now they had a working connection to the Nether. Norman looked back at his friends and said,

"Alright, let's go. Remember, keep a lookout for any suspiciously acting mobs—and of course mobs in general."

He turned back around and took a deep breath. He jumped into the portal frame and his vision turned purple and began to swirl around sickeningly. Finally, he was through to the other side, and he slowly stepped out onto the Netherrack. Actually, he stepped on gravel. Norman stared at his surroundings, which were extremely different from the Nether.

The color of the atmosphere was the same and it was still hot and there was still lava, but all the solid blocks were made of gravel. Everything was made of gravel. Norman walked over to the edge where his portal was and crouched down to avoid falling, because he found himself staring down into The Void. He wasn't sure why the Nether had shrunk and turned into gravel, and he was very curious to find out.

Everyone came through within about ten minutes—five of those minutes were for Blackberry and Boysenberry to squeeze through. People started wondering out loud about the changes in the Nether, and Norman just said that they needed to forget about it and keep walking. He only had one rule,

"Nobody. Break. The gravel! If you do, we'll all fall into The Void and the Nether will come down with us!"

Norman and the gang walked around on the landscape of gravel. The landscape shape itself hadn't changed, though. At one point a couple of Ghasts spotted them, and Blackberry had to shoot them down. They continued on with their walk for a while, fighting occasional mobs, jumping up occasional slopes. The entire time Norman was confused about the gravel and the absence of mobs.

He wasn't exactly sure how long they walked, but after a while they spotted a small hut made of gravel sitting about twenty blocks away at the bottom of a gravel hill. Norman gestured for his group to come closer.

"Let's check it out..." he muttered.

Everyone slowly made their way down the hill until they reached the hut. Norman held Jeff's iron sword in his hand and slowly peeked in the door. All of a sudden, he heard some soft singing from inside.

"Mixing and brewing,

Concocting a potion.

Swishing these fluids,

With wonderful motion.

My mother,

My father,

Would put

Me to bed.

I'd wake up,

And get up,

And make some potions instead!"

Norman spotted a tall girl standing near the back of the gravel hut, and she had her attention focused on her cauldrons. Norman cleared his throat and she turned around to look at them, looking quite calm.

Norman walked in and said,

"We're not going to hurt you, we just want to talk to you about this place, ok? Please, will you spare us a moment?"

Norman froze when he saw that she was wearing a witch hat. She also was wearing a witch's gown and had a witch's large nose complete with the wart. But, the rest of her body was human, and besides her nose her face looked like a regular girl's would. She had brown eyes, short brown hair, and somewhat large lips.

"Of course, sit down, won't you?"

They sat down on some gravel couches. Norman was about to ask a question when the witch girl said,

"What is your name?"

"My name is Norman Cobweb."

"My name is Narcissa Cauldron. I'm a crossbreed from a witch and a human. My mum was a witch, my dad was a human. He really liked witches, and she apparently had also fallen in love, and they got married secretly in the jungle to avoid ridicule. What are your parents like? Do they like jungles?"

Norman suddenly had a feeling that this girl/witch person was slightly one fry short of the Happy Meal. So he just continued onto his question.

"Well, first I need to ask you some questions. Why is the Nether all changed to gravel and why are there hardly any mobs anywhere?"

"Oh, this isn't the Nether."

"...Come again?"

"This is the Nether Jr."

"...Come...Again...?"

Narcissa straightened herself on her seat and said,

"Oh, well after doing some research I found out that Herobrine created a backup Nether in case his original was destroyed so that whenever he or a player stepped through they would end up in here instead. I chose to live here because I really like gravel, it goes well when its crushed onto meat."

"Uh, ok. So, we just stepped through, and does that mean that the NETHER IS DESTROYED?!" he exclaimed.

Narcissa nodded without a hint of being nonplussed.

"I suppose so. Oh well."

"Oh well?! But it's the Nether! Herobrine would've been destroyed if he was in there! All his mobs would be destroyed! EVERYTHING would be gone except maybe the two Voids!"

"Yes, that seems logical."

Norman begins to feel annoyed with Narcissa for not seeming to care about the Nether or Herobrine. He knew that they didn't need to stay here with this weirdo, so he got up and nodded gruffly in thanks for the information and left through the doorway. Everyone must have been feeling the same thing, because they all jus streamed out the door. Norman and the gang kept walking up the slopes, knowing that now that the Nether was destroyed it would be hopeless for them to find the last clan and mutant. Suddenly, he turned around and saw Narcissa following them at a short distance.

Norman made his way to the back of the group and walked up to Narcissa.

"Why are you following us?"

"I was hoping to be able to help you."

Norman sighed and said,

"I don't think you can help us. We're trying to find a giant army of a Nether mob and their mutant mob, but all we see around here is gravel, and since the Nether was destroyed I think that they left in the process. They're definitely not in the Nether Jr., or whatever you call this place."

"Oh, army? Do you mean the Zombie Pigman Clan and their mutant Bacon the Bloody who rule the Nether Jr. and live here and are sitting underneath all this gravel? Them?"

On hearing that Norman launched his arms forward and grabbed the witch/girl's shoulders.

"What did you say?"

"Well, the Nether Jr. is ruled by Bacon the Bloody and his army, the Zombie Pigman clan. His fortress is sitting right underneath all this gravel in the center of this dimension." she explained.

She took his hands off his shoulders and said,

"I don't think you'll be able to find the center of this place though, that would take months to do."

Norman suddenly looked down at his wrist and saw the F3 that the S.O.S.K.G. had given him. He had an idea. Norman pressed the silver button on his wrist next to his hotbar and all the data appeared above him. It acted at his compass as he followed the data streams, walking in different directions, directing his group. After ten minutes of walking, he came to a point where all his position was exactly at (0, 0). He looked down at the plain gravel floor beneath him.

"So, are you sure this is the right place?" said Calista nervously.

Narcissa walked up to the front next to Norman and said,

"Yes."

Norman sighed and then took a deep breath. He broke the gravel block beneath him.

"I'm pretty sure, at least." Narcissa said quickly.

Before Norman could scream "WHAT?!" all the gravel beneath them fell, and they fell into the darkness below.

A second later Norman felt his feet hit solid ground. He was now standing on a giant Nether brick bridge. All the gravel had slid over the bridge as though it were untouchable and had fallen off into The Void below instead. The bridge was broken off at one end behind them, but on the other it sloped downward into an area they couldn't see.

"So now what?" said Quinn.

"We need to go see where this bridge leads." answered Norman.

The group slowly made their way to the spot where the bridge sloped down, and then started their descent down the stairs. After about ten seconds they reached an area of floor, and there was a hole in the floor. When Norman peered down inside he saw a ladder stretching down into the hole. He slowly slid down into the hole and grasped the ladder, climbing down as quiet as possible. He looked up to see the rest of his friends were following, but when he looked back down his foot slipped, realizing it was the end of the ladder, and he fell right out of the hole.

Norman grunted when he landed on a hard and dark surface. He groaned in pain and rubbed his buttocks, which he was sure were broken. He stood up and looked around, gasping when he saw what he was on. He was standing on a giant pirate ship made entirely of Nether brick. He walked over to the edge and looked down, seeing that the ship was floating in a sea of lava that, when he looked back up, stretched far off into the distance.

"Oh, great. MORE pirates..." thought Norman.

He had leaned over a little too far, because at that moment he tripped and tipped over the side. Just as he was a few blocks away from the lava he grabbed onto a bar of a Nether ladder—mod—hanging off the ship. He flattened himself up against the wall next to him, and found himself staring through an empty window frame. He quickly lurched back onto the ladder out of view, because standing with his back turned to the window was a zombie Pigman.

Norman heard the ladder crack above him from his weight all being on the one ladder block, and he looked up to see a crack. Suddenly, it broke off one corner and swung to the side towards the empty window frame, making him hang there with his face there in plain view. He watched in horror as the zombie Pigman's little pig ear flicked up and he turned around. Norman quickly lowered himself down so that he wasn't in sight. The zombie Pigman stuck his head through the window frame, looking out with Norman right under his nose. Then, a few seconds later the zombie Pigman miraculously didn't see him and pulled his head back through.

Norman started to breathe again, but silently. He silently pulled himself up onto the ladder block above the unhinged one he was hanging from and climbed up onto the decks.

He sighed and turned around to face the decks. He looked up to see whether his friends were coming down or not, and to his great relief he saw them fall one by one onto the deck through the hole in the floating Nether brick bridge above them. Lizzy came up to him first and whispered,

"Are they down there?"

Norman nodded silently. Then Quinn came up to him.

"Hey dude! Is that Zombie Pigman Clan on here?! I like their ship!"

Norman shushed him and covered up his mouth. He heard some shouts from below the deck, and he groaned in frustration. The next thing he knew, he was surrounded by zombie Pigmen.

**Oh Poptart! Will Norman and the gang be able to fight off the Zombie Pigman Clan without the help of Blackberry and Boysenberry, who are stuck up on the bridge, too small to fit through the hole leading down to the ship? Will another life be taken after so many have already gone? Does Narcissa have some kind of significance in this quest, will she play an important role? Find out next chapter in THE GLITCH!**

***Pixelized and Pikale (from Pixelized Pikale and Company) both raise their fists and say,***

**"We've got to rescue him! Let's take Pastrinator64's Poptartmobile (first created in one of my role-plays with LuvrO'Pokemon) and fly after them!"**

***everyone cheers and they run out the door, all zooming into the parking lot where the Poptartmobile sits in all its sugary sweetness***

***everyone manages to squeeze in, and they are ready to go, but then Pixelized and Pikale start to fight over who drives***


	44. Chapter 44: Bailey's Nightmare

**Hello, this is Pastrinator64 with another chapter from THE GLITCH. Last time on THE GLITCH we watched as Norman and the gang discovered that the Nether was completely destroyed and that they were instead in a backup-Nether called the Nether Jr. After finding a witch/human crossbreed girl named Narcissa Cauldron they were able to obtain directions on how to find the Zombie Pigman Clan and its mutant, who were hiding underneath the gravel-crafted Nether Jr. Soon they found themselves on a ship, and after accidently being heard above-decks they were swarmed by zombie Pigmen. Now we watch as a battle commences between Norman and the gang and the Zombie Pigman Clan and their mutant: Bacon the Bloody.**

**Now, let the story commence!**

_Chapter 44: Bailey's Nightmare_

A zombie Pigman in the front poked Norman in the chest with his gold sword and said,

"What do we have here, stowaways? I would've thought that Glen would've taken care of these stowaways considering how big of a group you are and how easy you are to spot. GLEN!"

Another zombie Pigman came forward in between Norman and the other zombie Pigman.

"Y-yes sir?"

Without answering, the other zombie Pigman lifted his blade and sliced the head off Glen the zombie Pigman. Norman gulped as the head rolled off onto the ground, the body crumpling with it. Two zombie Pigmen came forward and picked up the body and head, and quickly threw them off the boat into the lava sea. The other zombie Pigman leaned closer to Norman with his blade and said,

"I oughta slice the head off your neck too!"

Suddenly, a voice could be heard from the other side of the ship shouting orders.

"Markus, do not touch the boy! He is for me to deal with!"

Markus the zombie Pigman turned around and said,

"Sorry, Captain Bacon!"

The crowd of zombie Pigmen around them parted like the Red Sea. A new figure came through the pathway. It was a zombie Pigman, but twice as tall, like a giant zombie Pigman. It mostly looked like a zombie Pigman except for its head, which had a holey pirate hat. Its eyes and mouth were the worst, because through its empty eye sockets were gushing blood, which went all over the rest of its body. Same with the mouth, and behind the fangs came even more blood. Norman noticed it a second later, but a diamond arrow was pierced through the monster's stomach. The giant blood-soaked zombie Pigman walked forward and then looked at Norman, who shuddered at the sight.

All of a sudden, the giant zombie Pigman's head turned and looked at someone behind Norman, who he heard scream in fear. Norman whirled around and saw Bailey cowering behind Butterball. The giant zombie Pigman smiled and walked forward towards Bailey and said,

"Oh, I remember you, girl!" he pointed to the diamond arrow pierced through his stomach. "You're that little pest who shot THIS through my stomach roughly a week ago in that city, oh yes... I remember you!"

Bailey screamed again, but then said,

"Get away! "

"What?! Do you remember me being this hideous the first time we met?! Is that what's scaring you?! I can be a lot scarier if I want!"

Norman suddenly remembered the time when he and Bailey swapped stories and she told him about being attacked by a giant blood-soaked zombie Pigman.

"I am Bacon the Bloody, the fiercest pirate to rule the Nether Seas!"

*cricket* *cricket*

Bacon the Bloody lashed out his fist into the air and said,

"Shut up, you cursed crickets!"

Silence.

Bacon the Bloody looked back down at Bailey and said,

"Alright, I've been waiting to kill you ever since our first meeting, so how about we get this over with!"

Bacon the Bloody leaned forward and lifted his gigantic gold cutlass. Just when he was about to bring it down on top of both Butterball and Bailey an explosion was heard, and the Nether brick bridge above them split in half violently. Boysenberry swooped down with Blackberry on his back. When the two giant monsters landed the entire ship tipped to the right, spilling off about ten or so zombie Pigmen.

Before Bacon the Bloody could yell out an attack order, Blackberry launched an explosive disk as the captain, blasting him into the air and off the ship, making him fall into the depths of the Nether Seas. Everyone rushed over to the edge—even the zombie Pigmen—and looked down into the lava where the captain had fallen. A few seconds later, a bubbling came up from the surface and Bacon the Bloody was launched out, landing in a heap on the ground, smoking and burned. The captain quickly stood up and backed away from the edge.

"You fools! You have disturbed the Smoke Serpent!"

"The what?!" someone screamed.

Suddenly, the entire ship rumbled and a loud roar echoed from the lava's depths. A gigantic blood-red eel rose up into view and snorted out black soot. The Smoke Serpent roared again and spewed lava everywhere. Norman had to move to avoid being hit.

"Thar she blows!" shouted a zombie Pigman.

Bacon the Bloody turned around and angrily lifted his gold cutlass again, running towards Bailey. A battle on the ship's decks began.

Norman yelled out a battle cry and brandished Jeff's iron sword. Everyone else did the same, raising their own weapons. The Zombie Pigman Clan raised their weapons and the two mini-armies charged into the fight. Bailey jumped onto Butterball's back and zoomed away from Bacon the Bloody, who swung his blade angrily and began to chase her. Norman ran into the zombie Pigmen and began to swordfight. He wasn't as skilled with a sword as he was with a shovel, but nevertheless he stabbed, blocked, and sliced every monster within sight. He blocked a hit from a gold sword and gutted the zombie Pigman in question, and whipped around to slice the head off another.

Glass and potion was flying everywhere, because Narcissa seemed to have an endless supply of potions. When Norman looked, he saw that she had a strange-looking bottle that was a regular bottle and splash potion bottle fused together with a handle connecting them in between. The thing was made of diamond. Every time Narcissa would use it, a potion would magically fill up in either fused bottle she wanted, and when it exploded on impact it would reappear in her hand a second later. But Norman didn't have very much time to admire this inventive diamond potion bottle, because that second he barely managed to dodge another blade.

He kept fighting strategically for a few more minutes, but then three zombie Pigmen came upon him at once. He kept fending them off, but soon realized that he was doomed without help. He took a glance to his left and saw Joe.

"Joe! A little help here?!"

But Joe too was fighting off a couple zombie Pigmen at once, and as he smacked one in the face with his camera and diamond lens cap he shouted,

"Uh, kinda busy right now!"

Norman ducked to avoid another swing and stabbed the middle zombie Pigman, and after ducking a second slice he stabbed another. Two more zombie Pigmen came on to attack him with the other remaining one. Suddenly, something extremely hot landed on his shoulder and he looked to see a glob of lava burning up his armor, still able to feel the heat even with the protection. He shook himself to get rid of it, and looked up to see the Smoke Serpent looking at him. It lunged forward to swallow him, and he rolled out of the way, making it swallow the zombie Pigmen he was fighting instead.

Norman took the opportunity and punctured his blade through one of the serpent's four glowing eyes. It lurched back and let out an angry roar, then lunged forward again. He jumped back and bumped into a zombie Pigman, who whirled around and bit his shoulder. Thankfully, Norman had diamond armor, so nothing really happened. Norman just reached over, grabbed the zombie Pigman's head and slammed it on his chestplate to knock it out. He jumped up just in time to avoid a swipe at his legs.

Norman suddenly heard the Smoke Serpent roar again, and he turned around too late to dodge the plume of smoke sent onto him. He hacked and coughed, and without being able to see he wasn't able to dodge the spurt of lava that collided with his chestplate, knocking him onto the ground. The smog cleared and he looked quickly down at his chestplate, which was half-eaten away at by the magma.

Norman scrambled onto his feet and dodged a blast of magma. Suddenly, just as the Smoke Serpent opened its mouth to shoot Blackberry launched a grenade down its throat, which exploded, making the beast writhe around and screech angrily. With its mouth open again from screeching Blackberry shot three more grenades inside at once, which exploded on impact, splitting open the Smoke Serpent's throat, the two gory halves sinking into the Nether Sea's depths.

Norman turned around and saw that Bacon the Bloody had cornered Bailey sitting on Butterball's back. He raised his giant gold cutlass and screamed,

"SAY GOODBYE, YOU LITTLE—"

But suddenly, the captain let out a horrible and painful retching noise. Norman almost didn't realize it, but he had run up behind the beast and stabbed his blade through the other end out through his chest, right above the diamond arrow. Blood oozed onto Norman's hand from out of the wound. But suddenly, Bacon the Bloody turned silent and turned around, wrenching Jeff's iron sword from Norman's hands so that it just stayed pierced through the mutant's body. Bacon the Bloody looked down at Norman and smiled, blood still streaming out through its teeth onto the ground.

"What do we have here? ANOTEHR TROUBLE MAKER?!"

Bacon the Bloody raised his giant gold cutlass and brought it down quickly, but Norman moved away just in time to avoid the hit. Soon, Norman was running away from Bacon the Bloody without a weapon with the mutant in hot pursuit of him. As he was running he looked behind him and saw the mutant's gold blade coming dangerously close.

"Crapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrap!"

Norman looked ahead of him and saw that he was getting very close to the edge of the ship where the railing was, and was running out of space.

"CrapcrapcrapcrapCRAPCRAPCRAPCRAPCRAPCRAP!"

Suddenly, something rammed into Norman from the right, and he flipped up, landing on something papery. He found himself riding behind Bailey on Butterball's back. Bailey was trying to be brave in front of him, and in his opinion she was doing a pretty good job of masking her fear. Bacon the Bloody had gained so much momentum he tripped and was tilting dangerously over the edge, trying to gain his footing.

Norman and Bailey stopped and watched Bacon the Bloody as he flailed his arms, trying to get his massive body and his blade from tipping over the edge. All of a sudden Calista walked up and mustered up all her courage. Then she swung forward with Swift the diamond pickaxe and her pick's point stabbed into the captain's back, and the creature roared and yelled with pain. She wrenched the point out, taking a huge chunk of bloody flesh with her. Bacon the Bloody lost his balance and fell over the edge in a mixture of pain and weakness, sinking in a bloody pool of lava and bodily fluids into the Nether Sea below.

Without a captain to lead them, the remaining thirty or so of the Zombie Pigman Clan cried uncle and jumped off the ship's edge to join their captain in the same fate. All the while, people were cheering with victory. But Norman wasn't ready to celebrate just yet; they still were missing one thing. Norman gathered up his group and then made an announcement.

"Alright everyone, now that we have defeated the Zombie Pigman Clan and their mutant captain Bacon the Bloody, we must find the last Doorway Drop! When he died I saw no sign of a drop being released, which must mean that it is hidden on this ship somewhere! In other words, everyone search the ship down to every particle for the last Doorway Drop!" he declared.

So they began their search. Norman checked the treasure room where Bacon the Bloody seemed to have thousands of gold and—a slightly cannibalistic keep—meat, both cow AND pig. He kept searching, but after ten hard minutes of looking he found nothing that could be a Doorway Drop. Norman ran back up to the main deck and found mostly everyone standing there. He asked if anyone had found something significant, but no such luck. Finally, Quinn burst through the doors of the captain's quarters carrying a bloodstained bucket.

"I found it! I found it! I found it! I found—"

Norman grabbed his lip to shut it and said,

"Ok, we get the point, Quinn."

Quinn handed him the bucket and Norman almost barfed when he saw what was inside. Filled a little over halfway was some bubbly-looking blood that sloshed around, thicker than it should be. Norman somehow knew the name of this Doorway Drop—he still didn't know how he always knew.

"It's called the Bucket O' Blood. It's Bacon the Bloody's life source. He can't live without it."

"Wait, so does that mean he's still—"

As if on cue, a great shower of lava spewed up from the Nether Sea alongside the ship and Bacon the Bloody was launched onto the deck, soaked in blood, burned, smoking, flesh missing, but perfectly alive. He ran forward with his cutlass and said,

"GIVE ME BACK THAT BUCKET!"

Suddenly, the Bucket O' Blood was taken from Norman's hands by Calista, who made a cactus block appear in her hands, which she hurled into the bucket so that it was submerged. Bacon the Bloody stopped and cracking noises started to occur. He retched and screamed with pain, falling to his hands and knees, dropping the cutlass.

"EEEEEEEAAAAAAAEEEEEEEEAAAAAHHHH! TAKE IT OUT! TAKE IT OOOOOOUUUUUUUT!"

Suddenly, a very loud crack occurred and Bacon the Bloody's chest split open, spitting out a blob of a heart pierced with cactus needles. The heart landed at Norman's feet, splitting open and splattering everyone with blood. Bacon the Bloody fell to the Nether brick deck and became silent, blood forming a puddle around him, soaking every inch of the floor, so much that it covered the entire deck.

Norman and the gang sloshed their way through the crimson puddles until they were all on the higher decks. Norman turned around to see everyone staring at him, waiting for directions.

"So, what do we do now?" asked Danny in an almost angry but definitely impatient voice.

Norman paused for a moment, wiped blood out of his hair and eyebrows, but then looked up at the split Nether brick bridge floating above them.

"Well, we're going to have to find a way back up there. Once we're up onto that bridge we'll be able to see our Nether portal to get back home. Once we're back into the Overworld I'll go into detail about our next move." said Norman.

So, after Blackberry had been carried up first, everyone hopped onto Boysenberry's back and they flew up onto the bridge. Norman looked over the side to see that the Nether Sea and the Nether brick ship were gone and that The Void had replaced them again. Norman looked to his left and could just barely see the glow of their Nether portal off in the distance. So, everyone hopped once again onto Boysenberry's back and flew towards the glow. Everyone was ready to get back home. Norman was especially ready to get back to his real home, and he felt closer than ever.

**Huzzah! Norman has finally obtained the last Doorway Drop! Will Norman be able to make it to the End in time to find and destroy the Glitch now that he has the keys to its prison? Will Bailey ever be able to shake the nightmares from her mind? And honestly, who doesn't think that Narcissa's diamond double-bottle weapon is cool? Find out next chapter in THE GLITCH!**

***finally Pikale looses his temper and pushes Pixelized out of the car, then they drive into the air with him in the driver seat***

***they hear a yell from behind and striker hutassa turns around in the backseat to see Pixelized hanging on to the bumped of the car for dear life***

***Pikale sees him hanging on and speeds up the Poptartmobile to get him off***

***then everyone realizes that Pixelized hands are glued to the back of the car by the ultra-sticky strawberry filling coming out of the jet engines that propel them through the air***


	45. Chapter 45: Hot and Cold

**Hello, this is Pastrinator64 with another chapter from THE GLITCH. Last time on THE GLITCH we watched as Bailey had to deal with fighting her worst nightmare. It turned out that Bacon the Bloody was the same blood-soaked zombie Pigman that had attacked Bailey when she fled her home city. But finally, after a long and hard battle they defeated the Zombie Pigman Clan and Bacon the Bloody, AND they obtained the final Doorway Drop: the Bucket O' Blood. Now we watch as they escape back to the surface in order to get the supplies they need for their long-awaited trip to the End.**

**Now, let the story commence!**

_Chapter 45: Hot and Cold_

It took two trips to get back through the portal home, but once everyone was back into the grassy plains of the Overworld next to their camp Norman had the Nether portal destroyed for safety reasons. Before anyone could focus on their next goal, they all had to clean up after weeks of no bathing. Norman took off his hot armor and quickly found Lizzy and got a look of her for the first time.

Lizzy had cuts, gashes, and scars, was soaked with blood, caked with dirt and grime and had countless burns and bruises along her arms. There was also the fact that half her face was covered in blood-stained bandages from the diamond sickle incident that Norman felt was years ago.

"Geez, Lizzy, you look awful!" he muttered.

Lizzy smirked and replied,

"I may look bad, but not as bad as you do."

Norman got a look of himself for a change, and he saw that he had all the same stuff around his body only twice more of it, and his back was still very sore from breaking it when he fought Obsidiman. Plus, he stank.

Norman and Lizzy both located a lake nearby, and everyone in the group had to go over and wash themselves. Norman felt a little self-conscious about taking off his clothes, but when he saw Lizzy run naked and carefree into the lake to bathe he decided that out here in the wilderness it didn't really matter.

After everyone was washed and dried and clothed properly and smelling nice for a change, Norman gathered them up to discuss their next plans. He planned to go into full detail, and he prepared himself for a monologue.

"Alright, everyone! Our wait is finally over! We have collected the six Doorway Drops," he brought out all six of the drops and set them down on the grass. "And we have slain all six clans and all six mutants!" he raised his sword heroically. "So now what we need to do is travel to the End, find the biggest open space to The Void and present each of these six Doorway Drops, which are the keys we need to open the 400 year-old gates to the Glitch's prison! We will enter the prison, attack the Glitch and defeat it, restoring the balance to the entire universe! Do I make myself clear?"

Everyone cried out in agreement and excitement. Norman continued and went into detail.

"Now then, first we have to create at least sixteen Eyes of Ender with ender pearl to be able to find and open the portal to the End! That means we will also have to go back to the Nether at some point and get enough blaze rods to cover the job, which I believe would be six! So, I am going to divide you into two groups, Team B.R. and Team E.P.! Team B.R. will scout for blaze in the Nether to obtain blaze rods, and Team E.P. will stay in the Overworld and hunt for Endermen at night!"

Norman picked Lizzy, Bailey, Butterball, Blackberry, and Narcissa to be on Team B.R. and Danny, Quinn, Joe, Calista, and Boysenberry to be on Team E.P. He himself decided to be on Team E.P. because he was not very keen on entering the Nether a second time.

Norman rebuilt the Nether portal and once everyone on Team B.R. had their supplies they headed through the portal again. But then, the first person—who was Lizzy—came back through again and muttered,

"The Nether is destroyed, remember?"

Everyone groaned and started complaining about how they'd have to find a village and trade a bunch to obtain the blaze rods, when all of a sudden,

"Well, it's a good thing I brought my own, isn't it?"

Everyone turned around to see Narcissa holding a full stack of blaze rods.

"I'm half witch; of course I'm going to need blaze rods for my brewing stands."

Norman ran forward and lifted his hands into the air, saying,

"THANK YOOOOUUUUUU! That is VERY helpful!"

Narcissa handed him the blaze rods and he put them in his hotbar. Then he looked around and said,

"Alright, forget the two team idea, everyone is now on the hunt for Endermen except for two or three people to stay back and replenish our supplies. Does anyone NOT want to go Enderman hunting?"

Two people raised their hands. Lizzy and Calista. He looked around for a third person, but it seemed like almost everyone wanted to hunt.

"Alright, I will also stay and replenish our supplies, then."

So, they slept there for the night, getting ready to start the morning awake and alive.

* * *

The next morning Norman woke up feeling more refreshed than he had in a long time after waking up from nightmares or just ending in a cold sweat for weeks. During the day Enderman hunters would rest and supply replenishing people would replenish. He found Lizzy and Calista and explained what they were supposed to do.

"Alright, Lizzy, you can go chop down some trees for wood, Calista, you take Boysenberry and hunt for animals for food, and I myself will be going down to mine. When you're done with your tasks you can come down and help me, just follow the line of torches and you'll find me."

They both nodded and ran off into the plains in search of their supplies, Boysenberry lumbering behind. He grabbed three iron picks and dug into the ground, creating a new mine. He dug deeper through the ground and eventually found an abandoned mineshaft, which he explored. He found a chest with three melon seeds, three pumpkin seeds and four loaves of bread. Just as he was collecting the items he saw a glow come from the end of the mineshaft tunnel. Curious, Norman walked down the hallway and hopped down onto the stone block below him through a small waterfall.

He was now standing in front of a giant pool of lava inside a cave, which stretched over twenty blocks away. But then, in the distance he saw a sparkle. It was a single block of diamond ore, exactly what he needed to get back Shatter. He jumped for joy and began to mine his way around the lake. Once Norman reached the other end he was up close finally to the ore, and he happily hacked away at it with his pick, soon gaining a single diamond. He kissed it and then held it into the air.

"Shatter, you will soon be resurrected from the dead to serve me once more!"

Norman headed back on his path and made his way back into the abandoned mineshaft to mine some more. Just as he came up the stairs and back through the waterfall he gasped as a person came into view. Lizzy came out from the darkness and made herself clear.

"Norman, I'm back! You want some help?"

Norman's cheeks reddened and he said,

"Uh, sure."

Before he could chicken out he added,

"Lizzy, I kinda wanted to tell you something."

Lizzy looked at him with excited eyes and said,

"Yes?"

Norman paused for a moment, hesitant and scared again. He tried to force himself to admit the truth.

"I... I just wanted to say that I... I love—"

But before he could finish Lizzy put her arms around his shoulders and locked him in a kiss. It was the most wonderful and strange experience of Norman's life, with his heart and head pounding but in a good way. Norman felt hotter than the torches. He and Lizzy just stood there making out underneath the spray of the waterfall. Norman didn't know how long they stood there, but after what he thought was maybe five minutes they finally pulled apart.

"I know, me too..." said Lizzy, smiling.

They just stood there looking at each other for another minute before Lizzy finally said,

"I knew that you've been trying to tell me, I've been trying to do the same thing. Is that what you were going to say when I was rubbing that cactus green into your back?"

Norman's cheeks reddened even worse.

"Yeah, I'm sorry, I'm such a wimp, and I couldn't even tell you the truth. There wasn't anyone around either, it was just me feeling hesitant. I really want to apologize for everything that's happened on this trip. I'm sorry that I gored half your face, I'm sorry I killed Jeff and a bunch of our other friends and I'm sorry I haven't been a better friend to you." he sputtered, trying to get it all out at once.

Lizzy smiled warmly.

"I forgive you. You remember our last day on Earth when I took you to my secret hideout? Well, this is what I wanted to tell you."

* * *

I woke up lying on a soft mattress. My head hurt, my side hurt, my whole body ached, but nothing felt as bad as my feet. I was aware that bandages were covering my body, and I looked down to see that the only ones soaked with blood constantly were the ones around my feet where Detlev had Viktor stab those nails into my soles. I must have been rescued by my soldiers.

I sat up in bed and looked around at my surroundings. I was in a hospital room. There was a needle stuck in my arm for blood tests and supercell suction pads were inserted into my head to test my brain wave frequency for anything irregular, or at least that's what I think they do. Several doctors eased me back onto my bed and one said,

"Alright, Mr. President, sir, we will need to do a little operating to extract that Sanguis Occidere poison injected into your blood. We will be putting you under anesthesia, please stay still for just one moment..."

A doctor slowly eased a needle into my arm and I felt sleepy instantly.

"Gee, this works really—"

But I was already knocked out cold by the drug, and thankfully I had an undisturbed dreamless sleep.

* * *

The next moment I was awake again, and all the same doctors were standing over me again.

"Alright, Mr. President, sir, you will not be able to move quite yet, we will have to take out these supercell suction pads and the blood test needle, then you will be staying in a wheelchair for at least a week before attempting to stand. The Secretary of Science—Landon Barrel, who you know very well on the plus side—designed it himself with all very complicated features that will aid you greatly. But first, just stay still while we take everything out." finished the doctor.

So for five minutes the doctors removed all the other tubes, pads, and needles from my body, and when they were done two of the doctors helped me sit up. My chest was covered with a very large stitch where they had gone in, and it stung like hell. I watched as the door to the hospital room opened and in came Landon Barrel moving a very high-tech looking wheelchair. He wheeled the chair up close to me and I looked at him with high expectations.

"Alright, let's hear about this wheelchair." I said.

"Ok, this wheelchair is the most secure wheelchair ever built, sir. It has two built in MSGs, two poison guns, and a rocket launcher. It is capable of going up to seventy miles per hour, powered by miniaturized jet engines built into the back. Also, on the armrest there is a button that will create a transparent force field around you much like our watches, only it will go around the entire wheelchair, deflecting even a missile. Another feature I added was a frozen yogurt dispenser, which isn't necessarily important, but I had time and figured that—"

I raised my hand to stop him and said,

"Alright, alright, I know. Just someone help me into this wheelchair."

The doctors lifted me off the bed and into the wheelchair. I found that it had a heated seat, which was also a bonus. As I was getting strapped in Landon added,

"So if Detlev ever manages to get in here you will be perfectly safe."

I froze at that comment, and I turned around to stare at Landon.

"IF Detlev ever manages to get here? You mean he escaped?!"

Landon sighed and gained a disappointed look.

"Sir, we tried to take him to our prison hold but... He was already mutated by the virus, and he began to eat away at our force fields. We were forced to retreat sir. I am sorry."

Even with the heated seat below me, I instantly felt cold as ice.

* * *

Norman and Lizzy eventually found their way back up to the surface again, and everyone questioned why they looked so happy, but they didn't answer. It was already nighttime when they came to the surface, and they both sat down on their beds, bidding all the Endermen hunters goodbye as they walked out into the fields. Calista was already there, and she used her block powers to grow tall barriers of cacti around them to keep out hostile mobs.

Quinn ran up to Norman and said,

"Dude! We've already got three ender pearls!"

"Well then, keep up the good work."

Norman looked down and noticed Doughbelly sitting behind Quinn. He had grown a lot since Norman last had seen him. He was already 4x6x4 in block-size, which was pretty big.

They continued to repeat this pattern for three days, but after those three days they finally were able to collect twelve ender pearls and convert them into Eyes of Ender. Now they had just enough to be able to open the portal to the End. Norman hoped that there would be some Eyes of Ender already placed inside like it sometimes did, because that way they'd be safe if they accidently lost one or two.

Norman took the Eyes of Ender and held up the stack of twelve for people to see.

"Ok! Now that we have enough Eyes of Ender we can open the portal. All that's left now is finding it! So, I will be the one to throw them—as I am the leader—and we will continue to follow the path until we find the portal underground. Kappische?"

Everyone,

"Kapposche!"

Norman nodded and tossed an Eye of Ender in the air. It floated up and flew off southeast, leaving behind a trail of purple snowflake particles. Norman walked over and picked it up again, the pointed in the direction it flew.

"Looks like we're going this way!"

He and his friends continued on their journey, every once in a while throwing an Eye of End. They had to keep walking through the night, and Norman refused to have everyone stop and rest, because he felt so close to being back home on Earth it was almost unbearable.

They continued on for two more days, but around midday Norman realized that he had been going in circles the entire day. So, he turned around and threw another Eye of Ender, then followed it. He continued that way for a minute and then threw it again, and it turned him around. Finally, he had to resort to throwing it instantly when he picked it up, and then found himself led to a spot he had been revolving around the entire day.

Norman looked back at his group, who all looked nervous but equally excited. He began to dig down into the ground, straight down. Thankfully, he had three full stacks of ladders that he had brought just in case, so everyone was able to climb down after him. Although, Blackberry had to blast his way down, which was both noisy and inefficient, but the only way they could get both him and Boysenberry down.

Finally, they all landed inside the stronghold's room with the End portal frame sitting above the lava. Norman blocked the doors with his cobwebs to slow down any mobs so they could easily kill them if they were to enter. Then he took the Eyes of Ender and walked over the frame, inserting each of them into a frame piece. Finally, he placed the last one and the End portal matter appeared, smoking and glowing with the black aura of The Void. A couple of minutes later Blackberry blasted a full tunnel down to the room. He had to fall on his side and slide down slowly, the metal screeching along the rocks, making unimaginably painful noise. Everyone had to cover their ears for five whole minutes while Blackberry slid through. Boysenberry came down after him, and with some difficulty they all managed to squeeze in the room—although Blackberry had to remain mostly in the hole with only his head sticking out.

Norman looked down at the portal blocks looking like The Void and took a deep breath. He jumped in.

**Finally! I can see the excitement boiling up inside you as you wait for Norman and the gang to finally enter the Glitch's prison! Will they be able to find the Glitch's prison in the vast space open to The Void? Will they be killed by the Glitch before they have a chance to turn the tables? Also, will the President of the United States Clarence Jordanship be able to handle the chaos that is ensued? Find out next chapter in THE GLITCH!**

***Pastrinator64 looks to his left to see Butterbrine flying towards the Poptartmobile on his butterghast***

**"TALLY HO! HAVE NO FEAR, PIXELIZED, I AM HERE TO SAVE YOU! BUTTERGHAST, USE BUTTERBALL!"**

***his butterghast opens its mouth and a huge ball of butter launches out of it, which slams into the back of the car, knocking Pixelized off completely, who starts to free-fall 500 meters***


	46. Chapter 46: Doughbelly For The Win

**YAAAAAAY! *Pastrinator64 performs a happy dance, knocking over several items in the room* YAHOO! HOORAY! HALLELUJAH! I have now received my 200th review! Thank you, everybody! I couldn't have done this without you! My story is zooming up the popularity charts and it's all thanks to my faithful fans!**

**a. ****_LuvrO'Pokemon:_**** My very first fan for my first fanfic, THE GLITCH. She's stuck with me since I started, and hopefully with my upcoming stories as well. Also the one who told me about the ItsJerryandHarry server.**

**b. ****_Vykktor:_**** The one who introduced Fanfiction to me and the one encouraging me as I write.**

**c. ****_Striker Hutassa:_**** Another faithful fan who's not been around as long as LuvrO'Pokemon but still a great fan to have.**

**d. ****_AerionsRealm:_**** One of my regular fans, one of the most matured writers I've seen. Even more thankful, the one who sent me his chapter via PM so I could take a look even though I couldn't be a beta reader. Thanks for the honor!**

**e. ****_Enderdude:_**** Now my 4th favorite fan (just barely under gin ketsueki) who has really enjoyed reading my chapters. He has reviewed several of them and was a major contributor to my current height of reviews!**

**f. ****_Pixelized Pikale and Company:_**** My second-most faithful reader (coming after LuvrO'Pokemon). He has reviewed almost all of my chapters, and he has given almost half of the reviews I own. Also has stuck with me for a while!**

**g. ****_gin ketsuiki:_**** Another one of my most faithful fans, one who has been on a 24-hour story watch for my chapters. I very much appreciate the many reviews she has given me throughout this story, and is my second-most frequent reviewer, falling just under Pixelized Pikale and Company. Thanks, gk!**

**I am having a huge party, so in celebration of my 200th review I will be posting a chapter for every single day of every single week until this story is over (which you guys are getting pretty close to the end). No more waiting for you, I am now on a 24/7 chapter-posting frenzy! HUZZAH!**

**Now that I've partied till I dropped, which was actually literally because I fell off my chair and practically had a concussion, I'm guessing that you're ready to read on! Well, let's continue, then!**

**Hello, this is Pastrinator64 with another chapter from THE GLITCH. Last time on THE GLITCH we saw Norman and Lizzy make out! Oh yeah! The long awaited kiss from Norman and Lizzy actually happened! While they were feeling warm and fuzzy, back on Earth all of the population was becoming possessed, and the President was barely able to handle anything, so to him he felt as COLD AS ICE-hence the title. Now we watch as Norman and his friends finally reach the End for their epic battle against the Glitch!**

**Now, let the story commence!**

_Chapter 46: Doughbelly for the Win_

At first Norman felt nothing but cold, but the moment later he felt something more. More cold. He landed roughly on an obsidian platform and looked around. He didn't see the Enderdragon anywhere. Norman hopped off the platform and climbed up to the surface of the main island. He still didn't see the Enderdragon. He turned around to see whether his friends were coming. He saw the Enderdragon.

Norman yelled out in surprise and fell on his back, scrambling away from the Enderdragon.

"Are you Norman Cobweb?"

Norman paused.

"Wait, you can talk?"

The Enderdragon nodded.

"That's right, you came from Earth, so you must not know... I am a queen, Queen Enderdragon, ruler of the End and all Endermen."

"A queen?"

"Yes..."

"Aaaaaaaaaand... You're still going to eat me, right?"

"No. You are much too important to become my snack."

Norman stood up and said,

"So, you must be involved with Notch and Herobrine."

Suddenly Queen Enderdragon lowered her head and sighed. Norman even saw a giant teardrop fall from her eye.

"I must tell you something very tragic. Notch and Herobrine... Are dead..."

Norman froze for a moment. Then he grinned and said,

"You're just pulling my—"

She lunged forward and roared in his face angrily.

"NO! THEY ARE DEAD! THIS IS NOT A JOKING MATTER! THE NETHER WAS DESTROYED AS WELL AND THE AETHER IS IN A HORRIBLE PANIC AND IT'S ALL BECAUSE OF THE GLITCH!"

Norman backed up and then saw his friends approaching from behind. Queen Enderdragon turned around and suddenly spoke calmly,

"Are these your friends? The other seven heroes of the Divination of Dimensions?"

Norman saw Calista yipe and hide behind Boysenberry, not really improving their image of being heroes.

"Yes." replied Norman.

Suddenly, Boysenberry crawled up to Queen Enderdragon and tilted his head curiously. They were the same almost, the only difference being some of the color and the fact that Boysenberry had three tails. Boysenberry inspected the queen for a moment, but when he started sniffing her butt like a dog would she snapped at him with her tail.

"Well I never! He's like wild dog!"

Boysenberry stared at Queen Enderdragon and then snorted steam, his eyes gleaming mischievously. She turned back to Norman and said,

"Now, you all must be looking for the gates to the Glitch's prison, am I correct?"

Before anyone could answer Norman looked up and noticed another pair of purple eyes zooming towards them from the darkness beyond. Queen Enderdragon turned around and then stretched her wings.

"Nogardredne, my older brother! How are you doing with keeping my Endermen in check?"

A large Enderdragon flew onto the ground next to the queen. It looked exactly the same, only it was twice as big than her. He looked at Queen Enderdragon with a blank expression.

"Are you ok?" asked Queen Enderdragon.

All of a sudden, Nogardredne's eyes widened and turned pitch black, and he lunged forward to bite the queen, but she launched herself back and into the air to avoid the attack, accidently knocking Danny off the cliff they were standing on.

"Oh no, you've become possessed by the Glitch! Not you, my only brother! Can't you fight it off? Please, don't let this happen!"

But Nogardredne showed no sign that he had heard her, and he jumped up into the air and zoomed towards her. Queen Enderdragon flew to the side to avoid it. Norman heard a small growl and saw Doughbelly leap forward and latch his teeth onto Nogardredne's leg, attempting to injure him. Nogardredne just looked down and whipped his leg forward, launching Doughbelly off the entire island and into The Void below. Quinn ran over to the edge and watched in horror as his pet fell into the darkness. He sat down and wept. Norman had never expected Quinn to be so devastated.

The chase between Queen Enderdragon and Nogardredne continued, and just when they were close to Norman and the gang Norman watched as Nogardredne zoomed up to her from behind and bit her on the neck. Queen Enderdragon yelped and fell to the ground in a heap. Suddenly, Norman saw her eyes turn black like her brothers, and now SHE was mutated. Queen Enderdragon raised herself and bared her teeth at Norman, who gulped and backed up, brandishing Jeff's iron sword. He didn't even feel protected with this weapon, and he had totally forgotten to recreate Shatter before they left. Queen Enderdragon was about to lunge forward when Blackberry shot a grenade right onto her nose, which exploded and knocked her back onto the ground.

So Nogardredne launched himself forward and stood on his hind legs, towering several blocks over the great and mighty Mechacreeper. He roared and latched his claws onto Blackberry's arms, and then flew up into the air, carrying Blackberry with him. Suddenly, before they even got thirty blocks the immense weight being put on Blackberry's arms took its toll, and his arms were wrenched off, sending him crashing in a metal heap on the ground, metal chunks scattering everywhere. Bailey ran over and began to cry, caressing Blackberry's face where he could still see her.

Norman knew they were doomed. He didn't have his best weapon, Blackberry was broken and smashed and without arms, and even grouping together they wouldn't be able to defeat both Enderdragons at once. But, when all seemed lost, the noise heard next gave everyone in the End hope.

"RAAAAAAAWWWWWWRRRRRRRR!"

Everyone froze and turned around to look at the edge of the cliff. Suddenly, Doughbelly hurtled up again from The Void, but he had grown so large that he was bigger than both Enderdragons and Blackberry combined, almost 30x40x30. Norman felt the corners of his mouth curl up into a smile. He watched with delight as Doughbelly landed on top of Nogardredne and sat there, spitting dough in his face to drown him. After about three minutes Nogardredne was stuck—probably forever—inside a giant mountain of sugary white dough.

Queen Enderdragon launched herself up and Doughbelly just grabbed her tail before she could do anything. He swung her around, smashing her into the end stone of the island, looking like he was having fun almost. But Norman ran up to the mound of dough where the white chocolate dragon sat and waved his arms, shouting,

"DOUGHBELLY! STOP THAT! WE NEED HER TO STAY ALIVE!"

Doughbelly just held the thrashing Queen Enderdragon in the air and stared at Norman. Norman quickly found Quinn—who was more than happy now that he knew Doughbelly was alive—and said,

"You can tame Queen Enderdragon! She needs to snap out of the Glitch's viruses!"

Quinn grinned and then let out a small laugh.

"Dude, I've just got the block power of Dragon Egg, I can't tame an Enderdragon."

"WHAT?! This whole time I thought you could! What's the point of having that power if you can't even control what you create?!"

Quinn shrugged, not seeming very concerned. Norman looked up to see Queen Enderdragon still struggling to break free and kill them at will.

"Well, what are we supposed to do with her? We can't kill her, because we might actually need her in case of emergency." said Norman.

No one seemed to have an answer. Norman sighed and finally spoke up to Doughbelly, hoping he could somehow be understood.

"Alright, just keep Queen Enderdragon in your hold until we get back, Doughbelly! Once we defeat the Glitch maybe she'll snap out of it!" he shouted.

It seemed as though Doughbelly understood, and so he pinned the queen down to the ground and sat on her to keep her from moving. Norman turned around and gathered up his group. Before he got a chance to start talking he heard a grunting noise come from the edge of the cliff. He peered over the edge and saw Danny attempting to get his heavy-weight body up the face of the cliff. Once he was up he hustled into the group and said,

"Someone could've helped me out there..."

Norman rolled his eyes and then started to speak again.

"Ok, we're going to have to find the gates ourselves and open them without accidently falling into The Void. It's not going to be easy, but I'm sure that an invisible bridge or something should lead to the gates, so everyone be really careful as they test out every empty space close to the End's giant island. And remember not to die, that is also important."

Norman and the gang headed down an impending sense of doom. Norman himself lightly put his foot down to test all the empty spaces right along the edge of the island, very afraid he would trip and die. But he kept going until finally... His foot touched solid ground where there appeared to be none.

"Hey guys! I found it! There's a bridge here, but it's invisible!"

People came over to look and gasped when they saw Norman standing on thin air. He slowly took another step, thankful that it turned out to be solid. Norman gestured for everyone to follow from behind, and most people were hesitant, but eventually his whole group was following behind him slowly, following all of his movements.

Norman had an idea and set down his Blockpack on a part he knew was solid. He took out the five Doorway Drops and placed them in front of him—the Boomstick, Tanglera's Leg, Brain of Rot, Crossbone, and the Bucket O' Blood. Suddenly, a strange quiver blast out in all directions from the object, and then the bridge beneath them came into view, made of bedrock. The Glitch's massive castle-of-a-prison stood not far away, connected to the bridge.

They all kept walking, making sure to leave the Doorway Drops where they were. Once they had reached the bedrock wall of the prison, a ripple in space appeared before them as though the air were water. Norman stepped through the ripple and landed deep inside The Void.

He could see chairs and a table set up around inside a large prison room. The only thing was, no one was there. Not even the Glitch. Norman looked around frantically, hoping that what he thought was the truth wasn't really the truth. But it was. The Glitch had escaped completely from his prison. Even though Notch was killed, he knew he had to go to the Aether to warn everyone that a war was coming, and that it was coming quick.

He ran out through the ripple in space.

"Norman, wait!" cried Lizzy, running after him.

Norman kept running along the bedrock bridge until he was running on end stone again. He climbed up and saw Doughbelly still sitting on Queen Enderdragon. Only this time the queen was shouting at Doughbelly instead of looking half-awake. Also, her eyes were normal again.

"You get off me now! This is not how you treat a lady!"

She saw Norman approaching and said,

"Get this dreadful creature off me!"

Norman pointed at Doughbelly to get his attention.

"She's finally snapped out of her... Trance, or whatever, so you can stop sitting on her now." he declared.

Doughbelly crawled off of Queen Enderdragon's back and then sat down on top of his giant dough mountain, huffing out sugary-smelling steam from his nostrils.

Quinn ran past Norman and held out his arms at Doughbelly.

"Good boy! You've grown so big! Literally!"

Doughbelly hissed out more steam and then scooped Quinn up, cuddling him close to his giant stomach. Queen Enderdragon brushed her wings off and then walked up to Norman.

"Thank you for defeating my brother, I could not have done it on my own. The viruses inside of me have faded away enough where I can think and move properly by my own will. Alright, we'd better get you and your friends to the Glitch's prison..."

"We already did, and the Glitch is gone!"

Queen Enderdragon froze for a moment and took in the horror of the situation.

"We need you to take us up to the Aether and warn everybody up there!"

Queen Enderdragon looked up into the pitch-black End sky and said,

"Yes, you are right; we must warn them before the Glitch makes its first attack, before it is too late!"

**Oh no! Will Norman and the gang be able to reach the Aether Palace before the Glitch takes it into its own captivity? Will Notch's secret backup Aether hideout be able to keep all of the despawned people safe? Will there be an awesomely epic battle between both good and evil sides (*wink* ;) *wink*)? Find out next chapter in THE GLITCH!**

***Enderwolf dives out of the Poptartmobile and grabs the falling Pixelized, then teleports him back into the vehicle***

***the angry Pixelized jumps forward into the drivers seat and both him and his clone Pikale try to knock each other away***

**"TALLY HO! I'LL STOP THIS NONSENSE!" declares butterbrine.**

***butterbrine's butterghast rams into the Poptartmobile, sending it down and out of the sky***


	47. Chapter 47: Taking Command

**Hello, this is Pastrinator64 with another chapter from THE GLITCH. Last time on THE GLITCH we watched as Norman and the gang had to fight two possessed Enderdragons, one being Queen Enderdragon and the other being her older brother. But, after a surprising growth spurt for Doughbelly, the chocolate dragon was able to drown Nogardredne-the Queen's brother-with sugary white dough and crush the Queen. With the two defeated, Norman and the rest of the gang decided to try and find the Glitch's prison and enter it to destroy the creature once and for all. But, when they get there they realize that the Glitch has already escaped! Now we watch as Norman and his fellow seven heroes fly up to the Aether to warn all of the Aetherians about the Glitch's escape.**

**Now, let the story commence!**

_Chapter 47: Taking Command_

Norman looked back at his group, who were waiting impatiently—except for Narcissa who was absentmindedly fiddling with her hair and murmuring something about milk.

"Alright everyone, this is bad, REALLY bad. The Glitch has escaped, so now we have to go up to the Aether—Queen Enderdragon will take us—and warn all the despawned!"

Danny,

"I hope there's food!"

But first there was the matter of Blackberry, who was still crushed and broken and without arms. Doughbelly was forced to stay and protect Blackberry until their return. So, with everything set up Norman and the gang hopped onto Queen Enderdragon's back and they flew into the air, Boysenberry following close behind. Suddenly, everything went cold, but the darkness faded away to a bright blue light. Norman looked around and saw the Aether Palace off in the distance. Norman pointed towards it and said,

"There it is! Let's go!"

But Queen Enderdragon didn't move, but stayed flapping in midair, also watching the floating wool castle.

"Well? Shouldn't we go?" asked Norman.

"No, the Glitch has taken over the Aether Palace, and it is rumored that he has brought in other villains from several dimensions to join him. If we go there, we'll be either possessed or killed. Also, that thing has viruses patrolling the clouds all around the palace to make sure no one gets past." said Queen Enderdragon.

Suddenly a black blur appeared nearby and they darted behind a cloud, and Queen Enderdragon somehow silenced her wing flaps.

"See that? There's one of his viruses now..."

They watched as the plasma mass floated lazily around, looking left and right with its glowing red eyes. Suddenly, it looked in their direction and then disappeared the second later. Queen Enderdragon flapped backwards and turned around, saying,

"Oh no! We've been spotted! Everyone hang on tight!"

Queen Enderdragon cut through the air like a sword—and like a boss—at high speeds that Norman could've sworn would pull the skin off his face. Norman heard a metallic screech and he looked behind him while clinging for dear life to the queen's neck. The plasma mass was zooming towards them. Suddenly, it screeched again and extended a plasma wing, forming a giant plasma halberd in its clutch.

The virus raised its halberd and swung, but it was knocked out of the sky by Boysenberry, who had thrown himself, using all his weight to knock the thing down. The virus disappeared out of sight, but then materialized in front of them a second later. It screeched again and opened its black hole of a mouth, forcing Queen Enderdragon to turn around in flap in the other direction as they began to become sucked towards the virus. Boysenberry launched himself forward for the second time and wrapped his tail around the virus, squeezing it in half, making it dissipate away. Finally Queen Enderdragon looked down and found the cloud she wanted, and she flew straight into it, and the next thing Norman knew he was inside a large indoor runway with an open roof.

He wasn't exactly sure how the entire runway fit inside the small cloud, but he didn't feel like thinking about that. Norman and the gang ran down the runway and entered another building, went through it, then ran down another hallway. Finally after a couple minutes of running they reached the main sanctuary. People shouted and called to them as they ran down the path leading to the podium at the front, but they just kept running. Everyone got up on the stage and Norman stepped up to the microphone to speak.

"Attention all despawned!"

The thousands of deceased crammed into the sanctuary looked up and stared at Norman. He suddenly felt a lump from his nervousness form in his throat.

"Where's Notch?!" someone shouted.

"Why hasn't he come back yet?!" shouted another.

"Where's old man Jenkins?!" shouted some drunk guy.

Norman raised his hands to stop them.

"I have a very tragic announcement to make. Notch is dead."

Everyone in the room gasped. People started crying, shouting, screaming, the drunk guy was making owl noises, it was pure chaos.

"EVERYBODY FREEZE FOR A MOMENT!" screamed Norman.

The speakers above that were projecting his voice made a little screeching sound and everyone covered their ears. When it stopped, Norman spoke again.

"I do not know how, or why, or when, but he has died. Herobrine has died with him, also for reasons I do not know. Now, I must explain to you all of the Divination of Dimensions, a great and powerful prophecy written by the—"

"We already know!" shouted several people.

Norman froze for a moment.

"Oh, I'm sorry."

A woman in the front carrying a baby stood up and shouted,

"Are you the first of the eight heroes?"

Norman nodded and replied,

"Yes, I am."

The woman held up her infant to him and said,

"PLEASE SIGN MY BABY!"

Other people started chiming in for him to sign stuff, and he quickly shouted,

"JUST SHUT UP ALREADY!"

Everyone grew silent again. Norman wondered what percentage of the crowd was mentally insane for a moment, but then he continued.

"The Glitch is looking for you all! And once he finds this hidden safe haven, he'll consume it just like the Aether Palace! So, I am addressing every able-bodied person in this crowd, please join the Slayers no matter what your block power may be, we need as many people as possible! We are going into a war!" several people gasped at the sound of that, but Norman spoke again before they could start up the pandemonium again. "So, there's still the matter of the leader, which we must elect RIGHT NOW in order to save time!"

Suddenly, the drunk guy in the back raised a fistful of what looked like cocoa pods and said,

"I BID TWENTY BROWN BEANS FOR THE BABY!"

Norman tried again to ignore him and not blow his own face off in anger. But then, another voice rang out from the crowd.

"If you're worrying about not having enough leaders, then look no farther!"

A tall man came through the crowd and then stepped into the front. Norman's mouth dropped open when he realized who it was. It was Eon, the leader of the Skylanders. People began to cheer loud and with high spirits. Eon stepped up to the podium and announced,

"And I've got an army of Skylander warriors ready to fight! And don't worry; we have some other friends coming along to help. C'mon out, Barry!"

Barry from Jetpack Joyride flew up from the crowd on a bubble jetpack and landed beside them, smiling and looking excited.

"He has taken the liberty to duplicate ALL his vehicles hundreds of times and rewire each of them to fight in this upcoming war, giving you, Norman, another leader and army! But also, up comes the great Italian plumber Mario!" declared Eon.

Mario stepped through the crowd and hopped up to the podium, smiling, not realizing he had a piece of mushroom stuck in his moustache.

"His wife Princess Peach has put all her entire toad army under Mario's command, an army of over 50,000! Also coming up to help is the wise Sensei!" people cheered even harder.

Sensei hobbled out through the crowd, sipping on a strawberry kiwi smoothie. He hobbled his way up onto the stage and sighed with effort.

"He will be in charge of his fruit-slicing army of ninjas—1,000 roughly—that will also aid us in battle! And last, but not least, Buster, the general of the Angry Birds army!"

The cheering continued. But for some reason, no one came through the crowd. Eon muttered something to himself and repeated,

"Buster, the general of the Angry Birds army!"

People cheered again, but soon fell silent. Finally, someone pushed Buster out of the crowd, who looked grumpy. He must've run out of enchiladas. Buster hopped moodily up beside Barry on the stage and grumbled something too quiet to make out. Eon smiled and continued.

"Buster here has an army of over 10,000 Angry Birds, all of a variety, which will aid us in battle against the Glitch! And, for our main leader," Eon pushed Norman forward and said, "Norman Cobweb, the first of the eight heroes of the Divination of Dimensions will be the one to lead us!"

Norman took a deep breath and then let it out. He already figured that he would have to lead an army to fight the Glitch. Otherwise, who would? But he still was nervous about the battle between them and the Glitch. But he didn't know which villains the Glitch invited to join its side, and he hoped dearly that there was no one invited who had an army.

But first, he had to assemble his troops if they were ever to get into battle.

* * *

I knew what I had to do, and it was time to take charge. Being wounded and stuck in a wheelchair usually isn't good for your image when you're a president, especially now when everyone's forgotten about everything except image. I wish I had been born four hundred years ago.

I pushed a button and rolled in my high-tech wheelchair down to Markus Persson's office to call General Chase Newman. We were going in again after Detlev, and this time we'd be prepared. I called the General and thankfully he answered.

"WHAT?! WHO IS THIS?! WHAT DO YOU WANT?!"

"This is Clarence Jordanship, General. I declare that you must send all of our military—yes, you are now in charge of getting EVERY branch of military over here—over to Berlin, Germany. We are going to find Detlev, kill him, and at the same time find Professor Explotium's body for our DNA extraction. All the branches of military must be here in under five days, then you will lead them to Berlin, Germany and take down Detlev and all men under his influence."

"Yes sir, Mr. President, sir!" the General replied gruffly.

I leaned back in my wheelchair let out a deep sigh. Everything needed to go well, otherwise there may be no hope for this country, and probably the world.

* * *

Five days later, every branch of military had shown up to the front doors of the Mojang building. A couple thousand helicopters crowded the area as well, and it was almost impossible to fit everyone within miles of our building. I wheeled myself—while followed by a large group of guards—out through the doors and was overwhelmed by the great numbers of our military instantly. I even felt faint with so many people breathing in the same air.

The General walked up to me from the front and saluted.

"Everyone's ready to go and we have a couple thousand helicopters around the area prepared for our flight." he said.

I nodded.

"Good. You'd better get going, then. Good luck, General." I said.

The General nodded gruffly and turned on his heel, and he pulled out his Gigaphone and said,

"ALRIGHT, EVERYONE MOVE OUT!"

All the soldiers around me marched away into the distance, and soon the sky beyond was almost completely covered with little black blurs that were a storm of helicopters. Once they were all gone I closed my eyes and began to think. One of my bodyguards wheeled me back into the building, but I was so exhausted that I fell asleep thinking of all that could go wrong, tormented by the fact that I knew I would never again have an undisturbed sleep.

* * *

Norman walked down the path from side to side, looking over his new army. In the front were the Slayers, the best army of Dungeoneers of the Minecraft Dimension, with all the mod weapons and armor you could think of. He found out earlier that there was a secret stash of mods down in The Void actually called the Secret Stash, and Queen Enderdragon took the liberty of retrieving all the weapons. They were probably going to die, so they might as well use the best weapons possible.

Behind the Slayers were the regular despawned people of the Aether, who Norman found out also were called the Aetherians. They too had mod weapons and armor. Behind them were the Skylanders, the 60+ nearly-invincible warriors of all different shapes, colors, and sizes. Behind them were the hundreds of duplicated Jetpack Joyride vehicles such as Lil' Stomper or the Crazy Freaking Teleporter, all lined up with extra features and shining brand new. And finally, in the very back was the large Angry Birds army, also of all different shapes, colors, and sizes. They would be used in the back and launched as aerial attacks.

Norman was actually quite satisfied with his new army. He stepped up to the podium and shouted into the microphone.

"Alright! We've got everyone here! You guys look great!"

Everyone cheered and hollered in excitement.

"I have gotten permission from Queen Enderdragon to bring up all the mod weapons from the Secret Stash hidden in The Void for all you Aetherians to use in battle, which will help us immensely. Also, before we march into battle, I'd like to ask if some special friends of mine could come up here. There are three people I'd like to invite up here to help lead with me—besides my fellow other seven heroes, of course—at the head of this army. First, would Mason Mushroom please come up to the podium and join me and my friends?"

People cheered as Mayor Mushroom strode proudly through the crowd holding his old iron sword rather than a mod weapon. The mayor stepped up to the podium and said,

"Thank you, Norman Cobweb, for recognizing me again, I am very grateful to be here tonight!"

Norman stepped up to the podium and said,

"I would like to thank Mr. Mushroom for helping our group get through the hardships in both the ocean and desert before our whole journey really began. Thank you very much!"

People cheered for a few moments, but then he continued.

"The second person I would like to welcome up here is Hilary Sponge! C'mon up, Hilary!"

Hilary walked through the crowd smiling, also holding his traditional iron sword. He stood beside Norman, smiling, but too nervous inside to speak to the crowd.

"Hilary here has been a very faithful person in our group for a while, and always was the one to heal the most critical injuries, especially mine. Thank you, Hilary!" Norman declared.

Once again, he continued.

"And then there's one last person I really want to see up here. He has been the best friend a guy could have, he's a fighter, he's strong in both in body and mind, and even through the toughest of hardships he pulled through, and I wish that he could've been here with us on our further journeys after his death. Jeff Ironblock, everyone!" he declared.

Jeff came running out of the crowd looking extremely excited. He ran up and embraced Norman in a hug.

"Norman, I am so glad to see you again!" he let go and said, "I forgive you for killing me on the Blood Vessel back there, it wasn't your fault, the Glitch had possessed you, you had no choice."

Norman grinned and said,

"I'm just glad to see you again. Lizzy and I were the only ones that survived, but then we found others, but everyone who already knew you missed you. We gave your mortal body a proper burial; we thought it would be the right thing to do."

Jeff also grinned.

"I'm glad to see you again, too."

Norman stepped back up to the podium and said,

"These three will be marching with me and the other seven heroes at the head of our army!" the army cheered and yelled out some more. "But first, before I lead us all into the Aether Palace to fight, let me introduce our eight heroes. My name is Norman Cobweb, and I was bestowed upon with the block power of Cobweb. My weapon is a diamond shovel, enchanted with Fire Aspect II and Knockback II, and its name is Shatter."

Norman brought up Lizzy next, who raised Shine and said,

"My name is Lizzy Cake, and I was bestowed upon with the block power of Cake. My weapon is a diamond sickle, enchanted with Bane of Arthropods V, and its name is Shine."

Next was Danny, who talked in a very smug tone.

"Yeah, I'm Danny Bedrock, and obviously I was given the block power of Bedrock just like my ancestors before me. My weapon is a diamond sword, enchanted with Sharpness V, and its name is Slay. This is a weapon that will send all my enemies running, a weapon that will make you want to—"

Norman pushed Danny off the podium so Bailey could come up to speak.

"My name is Bailey Creeper, and I have been lucky enough to be bestowed with Creeperwhisperer powers. This is my companion Creeper Butterball." Butterball scuttled up front for everyone to see. "My weapon is a diamond bow with diamond arrows, enchanted with Infinity I, and its name is Silence."

She stepped down and then Joe walked up.

"Hey dudes, dudettes and other weird monster guys, my name's Joe Camera, and I've got the block power of Camera. And before I talk about my weapon I'd like to thank Norman for getting me that liquid diamond mod, because," he held up his camera, which no longer just had a diamond lens cap, but was solidified inside a coating of diamond. "He was able to transform my camera into a weapon of total destruction. Plus, it still takes pictures. Anyway, as you can see my weapon is a diamond camera, not really enchanted with anything, but I call it Snap."

Joe smiled again and stepped down to let Calista up. Actually, she had to be pushed up to the podium considering her meekness. She blushed and started stuttering as she spoke.

"Uh, my names, uh, Calista C-cactus, and I uh, have the block power of, you know, Cactus. My weapon is a, uh, d-diamond pickaxe enchanted with, um, Unbreaking III, and its name is Swift." she murmured, quickly stepping down in embarrassment.

Then came Narcissa, still looking perfectly calm and almost spaced out as she always seemed to be. She stood at the podium for a minute in silence, and then Norman nudged her shoulder and muttered,

"Um, Narcissa, you can speak now..."

Suddenly Narcissa pounded her head and whispered into the microphone,

"Shut up all of you in there, SHUT UP."

She turned around and noticed Norman.

"Oh, sorry, I was arguing with my friends inside my brain, you were saying something?"

Norman turned her around and said,

"Just announce your name, your block power and everything about your weapon."

"My name is Narcissa Cauldron, and I was bestowed up with the block power of Cauldron. My weapon is something of my own creation, a double fused bottle made of diamond, a bottle that can both be thrown and drank from called Swig & Splash. It is enchanted with Smite V—an appropriate enchantment as I once lived in both the Nether and the Nether Jr. That is all, if you would like to hear the entire history of my weapon and how it came to be, then please visit my website at www. stuffaboutnarcissacauldrontheentirehistoryofswig& if you happen to have the computer mod with you. On my site there are documentaries, my blog, a guest page, games for younger kids, a—"

Norman pulled her off the stand and said,

"Alright, Narcissa, I think we get the point. Now then, we still have one more... Quinn, come on up!"

Quinn stepped up and said,

"ARE YOU GUYS READY TO ROCK?!"

People cheered and hollered.

"YOU READY TO RUN RIGHT INTO THOSE VIRUS RANKS AND DESTROY THE GLITCH'S ARMY?!"

Now everyone was getting extremely excited, and people were jumping up and down.

"AND WHO HERE LIKES PANCAKES?!"

The cheering grew so loud Norman saw the roof above them quake and vibrate. Norman stepped up and shared the microphone with Quinn, because he had something to say.

"Alright everyone, settle down. Now, Quinn, you've been a very good friend to me, and Queen Enderdragon and I had an idea for a present. You've always been so interested in mods from that book you've been carrying around, so we figured the least we could do would be to give you what you wanted the most."

Norman pulled a brand new diamond slingshot from out behind his back and presented it to Quinn, who's eyes widened in shock. Norman placed down an extra anvil he had and said,

"You want to name it? It's all yours now."

Quinn grinned the widest that was physically possible and slammed down his new weapon in the slot, drawing in the name on the bar above. Once he was finished he took it out and raised it up into the air, shouting,

"I'm calling it Slingshot! WOOHOOOOOOOOO! YEEEEEEEAAAAAHHHH!"

Norman wasn't exactly sure why he would name it something as simple as that, but as long as Quinn was happy he could care less. Quinn stepped down from the podium and Norman stepped back up, smiling, the excitement and nervousness boiling up inside him.

"Like Quinn said before, are you all ready to fight this battle?!"

People cheered loud and clear, raising the roof both figuratively AND literally, and Norman knew that their army would prevail in the end, no matter what may happen. It was destined.

**Who doesn't love a good pump-up speech? How will the final battle between the Glitch and its army and Norman and his army unfold? Will the true eight heroes of the prophecy all survive? Will the Glitch win or be heroically defeated? Find out next chapter in THE GLITCH!**

***Pastrinator64 reaches into his pocket and pulls out a frosted cherry Poptart, then focused all his energy on it***

***suddenly, the Poptart glows and transforms into Nyan Cat, which flies behind the falling Poptartmobile***

**"NYAN CAT! USE RAINBOW WHIP!" shouts Pastrinator64.**

***Nyan Cat meows and lashes out a stretch of rainbows, stretching it around the entire bumper of the Poptartmobile***

***Nyan Cat whirls around and flies forward, propelling the Poptartmobile with kitty power***


	48. Chapter 48: Making the Connection

**Sorry about the late chapter post, I was watching Dragon Ball Z Kai (best anime ever :3). Anyway, I suppose that we should just get on with it...**

**Hello, this is Pastrinator64 with another chapter from THE GLITCH. Last time on THE GLITCH we watched as Norman was appointed as the leader of the entire inter-dimensional army. Soon he will be leading them into battle. We also watched as President Jordanship gave the command for all of the army forces to travel to Berlin, Germany once again to both kill Detlev and his accomplices and retrieve Professor Explotium's dead body for DNA extraction. Now we watch as both the world of Earth and the world of Minecraft create a link between dimensions.**

**Now, let the story commence!**

_Chapter 48: Making the Connection_

The General sat in the back of the helicopter and thought about retrieving both Professor Explotium and Detlev Kaiser's dead bodies. He knew that they had to be careful when they entered the capital building of Berlin, Germany, the Reichstag building. Once they landed, the rest of the thousand-some helicopters circling in a storm around them landed around in the area. They were all swarmed around the Reichstag building.

The General stepped out of the helicopter and walked towards the building's doors, the military's hundreds of thousands of soldiers marching behind him. Only 500 of soldiers from each branch entered the Reichstag building, leaving the others to stand outside and guard the place. The General marched in front of his obeying soldiers and walked up the stone steps to the great marble and glass doors. The glass was shattered and both were collapsed.

The General had the collapsed doors blasted out of the way, and he continued inside the building. He walked through the rubble-covered hallway and then turned around on his heel to face his soldiers.

"ALRIGHT MEN! MOVE OUT AND SEARCH THIS PLACE DOWN TO EVERY NOOK AND CRANNY, I WANT DETLEV FOUND AND KILLED, ALONG WITH HIS ASSOCIATES!"

The soldiers headed out in different direction to the north, east, south, and west parts of the building. He himself marched down through the lobby towards the main dome area with 250 Army soldiers, then walked up a flight of stairs into the vast room. He looked around, his MSG ready and loaded. The soldiers around him moved about the dome, scanning everything within sight for hidden items or people. For about ten minutes, there was no sign of Detlev or his thugs. The General was beginning to become frustrated. Suddenly, he looked up and saw a shadowy figure dart behind a metal beam high up on the railing circling the dome's cyclone-like center. He pointed at the beam and shouted,

"THERE'S ONE! FIRE!"

About twenty soldiers turned around and all fired at once, their MSG's spinning needles all zooming towards the same target. The needles were so close that their electricity formed around them all, forming a deadly ring that would kill whoever was there. Suddenly, Detlev stepped out from behind the pole and raised his arms, exposing himself. The needles all swerved around him and then recalculated their trajectory, zooming back at the soldiers.

They slammed their wristwatches and created a large force field around them, which deflected the needles to the ground. The General stepped out from behind the force field and pulled out a weapon that was specially made. It was an EPE (Electromagnetic Pulse Emitter), a device that shot an electromagnetic wave at the target.

"DETLEV! I KNOW YOU ARE POSSESSED BY THE VIRUS, AND I'M GOING TO HAVE TO EXTRACT IT! DO NOT RESIST!"

The General pulled the trigger. An electric-sounding buzz was emitted and a ripple in the air zoomed at Detlev, who was still leaning on the railing above them. The pulse hit Detlev, and he flipped backwards over the railing. He fell down and smashed into the ground about fifty meters away. The General and his soldiers ran forward and surrounded Detlev's dead body, holding their guns at the ready. Suddenly, a strange buzz occurred and black plasma began to stream out of Detlev's ears, nose and mouth. Even his eyes. The plasma settled around him and then rose up, forming a huge mass behind him. The plasma's eyes formed as red slits and its mouth opened, revealing a black hole. The General's eyes widened in fear, but then he raised the EPE and blasted another electromagnetic pulse, which ripped right through the plasma, absorbing it where it hit.

The rest of the plasma dissipated into nothing. Two soldiers ran forward and inspected Detlev's body. The General put away his EPE and stood behind the two.

"Well?! What is his condition?!"

One of the soldiers looked up at him and said,

"General, sir, he is dead, there is no question."

The General waved his hand and said,

"Take him to the medical copter outside. We might need his body for later."

"Yes sir."

"Alright men, we've only got their leader, we don't know how many associates he has in this building. Keep searching, I will be heading up onto the roof with a hundred of you, so follow me!"

The General walked down the marble floor and quickly located another flight of stairs near the back. He marched up the stairs, his and his soldiers' footsteps echoing through the stairwell. He reached a locked steel door at the top that had a padlock. He whipped out EPE and used its extreme magnetic power to push the door out of the way.

Their large group stepped out onto the roof. A cold and harsh wind blew them back, but they continued onward. Suddenly, the General felt something hit the back of his ear that burned, and he shook his head, seeing a black piece of plasma fly off into the wind. With a feeling of doom, he whirled around and then backed up, seeing something more monstrous than he had ever before. Tearing through the landscape towards them was a supercell tornado made of swirling black and red plasma. None of the soldiers stood there for another few seconds, and they all ran back into the Reichstag building.

The General just stared for a moment at the vortex and watched as their entire fleet of helicopters was sucked into the storm of plasma. He raised his EPE and charged it up for ten seconds, then let it go, blasting a fifty meter magnetic pulse. He watched as the pulse was also sucked in by the plasma-ridden wind, and it disappeared completely. He saw only a small quiver in the vortex's middle, and then his gun was ripped out of his hand by the suction of the storm.

So instead he followed his soldiers' path and ran over the fallen steel door through the empty doorway. He continued down the stairs, wind blasting at him in every direction. He was about to enter into the main dome area again, but stopped at the staircase bottom. The roof above was ripped off completely, and hundreds of soldiers were flying up through the open space, being taken by the wind.

So the General took out his powerful grappling hook device and shot it onto the nearby railing. He secured it along his heavy-duty vest and then walked out into the room, instantly to be swept up by the wind. While being pulled into the air he grappled onto the cord connected him to the hook to the railing. He struggled as he pulled himself back down, getting a rope burn as he went. Once he was back on the ground he grasped the railing and held on tight, scooting forward towards the stairs heading back down to the lobby. Once he made it to the stairs he latched onto a light in the stairwell and finally made his way into the stairwell away from most of the wind.

He ran down the staircase and eventually reached the lobby. There was wind coming through the broken-down doorways at the entrance, but not enough to suck him out.

The General kept moving, pushing against the wind. He kept moving until he reached another staircase leading to the lower levels. He ran down the stairs and kept heading lower and lower. Eventually he reached another steel door leading to the bomb shelter hidden underneath the building. He then remembered that he didn't have his EPE anymore, and he turned around to look for something to break down the door or open the padlock.

Suddenly, a couple hundred soldiers streamed down out of the stairwell into the lower basement room, surrounding the steel door along with the General. One of the soldiers took out a very hefty-looking gun and melted a hole through the door. The General and his soldiers streamed inside the room and crowded together. But when the General saw what was standing at the back of the room he backed away, along with many of the other soldiers.

Standing at the other end of the room was a tall frame made of black plasma, and swirling around inside was red plasma.

"It's some kind of portal..." said one soldier.

Suddenly, a loud crack was heard and the General looked up to see debris falling from the ceiling, the whole room shaking dangerously. The General looked from the portal to the ceiling. He had a decision to make. One was to die under rubble, the other was completely unknown. He was forced to go with the latter. So, the General took a deep, cleansing breath and walked forward, his soldiers following reluctantly as they stepped through the portal.

* * *

Norman marched down the hallway, the wind blowing in his face as he stepped out onto the runway. He stopped in the middle of the room and looked up at the cloud-hidden hole leading to the outside world. He looked behind him at his army of brave warriors, then looked back up. He raised his hand as a signal and a staircase made of cobwebs appeared before him. He willed the cobwebs to be solid for him and his army, and he began their ascent up the staircase.

He exited onto the small cloud open to the Aether and looked around, seeing the Aether Palace far off in the distance. By now, the sky had turned a swirling pattern black and red. He suddenly had déjà vu as he remembered the sky turning that color back home on Earth.

The Aether Palace didn't look like the Aether Palace anymore, and all the wool had turned blood red, and it looked like it was slowly melting, as everything was misshapen. Suddenly, Norman saw a ring of plasma form around it, and a gigantic ball of pitch-black plasma began to stretch all the way around it, surrounding the entire palace like a force field.

Norman raised Shatter up into the air and muttered to himself,

"Glitch, you are going down..."

But before he could even get moving, a buzzing sound occurs above him and he looked up to see a randomly materialized portal frame appear. Someone falls out. He tries to grab the person, but he misses his catch and the person keeps falling. He looked above again and saw soldiers streaming out, all of them trying to land as softly as possible on the cloud he was standing on. He quickly ran down back through the secret hole as soldiers began to fall onto the cloud's surface.

Everyone in the army struggled to each see up onto the cloud space above, and they watched as soldiers with high-tech armor and guns filled up the space. Norman then realized something very strange. They all looked human, not blocky in any way. Norman held his breath and thought to himself,

"No way! They're from Earth too! How did they get here?"

Carefully, Norman lifted a finger and tapped the bottom of a soldier's boot, and the soldier lifted it up, and Norman stuck his head out into view. All the soldiers pointed their guns at Norman, and he raised his hands in defense.

"Wait! Hold on a moment! Are you part of President Jordanship's military?"

"Yeah, but anything further than that is classified. Come out with your hands up!"

Norman did so and stepped out obediently with his hands raised. His friends came out the same way, and as more and more people came up onto the cloud people started to fall off because of the lack of room.

"Alright, I don't care how many of you there are down there, just stop, all of you!" said the soldier, and he pointed his gun right in between Norman's eyes. "What is this place?!"

"This is Minecraft." Norman replied calmly.

The soldier froze, and then looked around at the blocky clouds, and then spotted the blocky Aether Palace in the distance. Norman gestured for the soldiers to come forward and said,

"There's a secret hideout inside this cloud, I think we need to discuss this somewhere where it will remain confidential..."

The soldier still held his gun to Norman's head, but they agreed and made their way back down onto the runway inside the building. Norman was surprised when he noticed that there were hundreds of human soldiers that were coming down inside, and with his army and the soldiers' numbers they had a hard time fitting inside the runway. Once everyone was down inside Norman looked around at the hundreds of soldiers in front of him and then looked up at the one in front, who was still pointing his gun.

"Don't play dumb, kid, cooperate and tell us what this place is. That thing you call Minecraft is a video game, it doesn't exist." said the soldier.

"Do you notice that everything around us is blocky? Do you notice that I, and many in my army, appear blocky?" answered Norman.

"But that's impossible. Minecraft is a game! There's no such thing!" he declared.

But after ten seconds of Norman's silence, the soldier finally realized the truth and shook his head, lowering his gun.

"How did you get here?" asked Norman, nervous that the soldier would again point his gun.

"We were in Berlin, Germany on a special mission, and a freak tornado made of this black plasma ripped right through us, we were forced to enter this plasma-created portal. We ended up here. That man you tried to catch, that was General Chase Newman, our leader..."

**No! Not the General! How will these soldiers deal with being stuck in the game of Minecraft? Will the battle still rage on between both armies? Will they be stalled for too long and miss their opportunity to strike against the Glitch? Find out next chapter in THE GLITCH!**

***Nyan Cat pulls them along after Herobrine, who can be seen dragging pastrinator64 in the distance***

***while being held, Pastrinator64 looks back at the Poptartmobile and his Nyan Cat, then shouts,***

**"NYAN CAT, USE SUGAR BLAST!"**

***Nyan Cat mewls and opens its mouth wide, sending out a blinding spray of glowing white sugar***

***the sugar swarms around Herobrine, turning him blind and immobile***


	49. Chapter 49: The FF5000's Destruction

Games » Minecraft » **The Glitch**

Author: Pastrinator64

1. Chapter 1: Failed Amusement2. Chapter 2: Glitching Out3. Chapter 3: Even More Glitching4. Chapter 4: The Three Rulers5. Chapter 5: Finding Food6. Chapter 6: The Glitch's Origin7. Chapter 7: Blockbusting Day8. Chapter 8: The Blockbusting Ceremony9. Chapter 9: A New Beginning10. Chapter 10: The Space Between Dimensions11. Chapter 11: Survival of the Fittest12. Chapter 12: The Ambush13. Chapter 13: The Golden Sphinx14. Chapter 14: Because of Greed15. Chapter 15: Stocking Up16. Chapter 16: Secret Science17. Chapter 17: An Arch of Bedrock18. Chapter 18: The Mechablast Factory19. Chapter 19: Danny to the Rescue20. Chapter 20: Evil Causes Triple Trouble21. Chapter 21: Revenge22. Chapter 22: The SOSKG23. Chapter 23: Two Sweet Occurrances24. Chapter 24: Food Fight25. Chapter 25: Norman Takes to the Air26. Chapter 26: Dinner Parties of a Sort27. Chapter 27: Nonfiction Science-Fiction28. Chapter 28: The Unforgivable Mistake29. Chapter 29: Magnets and Monsters30. Chapter 30: The Foulest Man Alive31. Chapter 31: Skull and Crossbows32. Chapter 32: Lizzy's Lament33. Chapter 33: A Groovy Cameraman34. Chapter 34: A Friendly Kidnapper35. Chapter 35: The Dead Who Never Died36. Chapter 36: All Hell Will Break Loose37. Chapter 37: The Interrogation38. Chapter 38: The Almost-Reunion39. Chapter 39: Behind the Scenes40. Chapter 40: The Spirits In Between41. Chapter 41: Obsidiman42. Chapter 42: Brotherly Hate43. Chapter 43: The Nether Jr44. Chapter 44: Bailey's Nightmare45. Chapter 45: Hot and Cold46. Chapter 46: Doughbelly For The Win47. Chapter 47: Taking Command48. Chapter 48: Making the Connection49. Chapter 49: The FF5000's Destruction50. Chapter 50: The Final Battle51. Chapter 51: Ending It Before It Began52. Chapter 52: Secrets Revealed53. Chapter 53: The Party of a Lifetime54. Chapter 54: Chapter One All Over Again55. BONUS CHAPTER: Pastrinator64's Adventure

Rated: T - English - Adventure/Sci-Fi - Reviews: 345 - Published: 02-14-13 - Updated: 05-28-13

id:9011497

**Huzzah! I am having a mini-celebration over here, cuz' just last night I recieved my 10,000 view. It's not THAT big of a deal, I just thought I'd mention it to y'all. :D Anyway, let's continue on with the next chapter!**

**Hello, this is Pastrinator64 with another chapter from THE GLITCH. Last time on THE GLITCH we watched as General Newman led all branches of the military into the Reichstag building in Berlin, Germany to capture and kill Detlev Kaiser and any possible accomplices. But, a freak plasma tornado pulled in towards the building and the General had to flee with what was left of the military down to lower levels. There they found a strange portal sitting in the deepest basement, and when they stepped through they came out the other end into Minecraft, soon meeting Norman and his army. Now we watch as the Norman tries to figure out how to penetrate the gigantic plasma force field formed around the Aether Palace and have everyone remain intact.**

**Now, let the story commence!**

_Chapter 49: The FF5000's Destruction_

After a long explanation—and a very large amount of breaking the fourth, fifth, sixth, and maybe seventh walls (if you know what that means)—Norman was finally able to explain to the army of soldiers the entire story about the virus. He told them everything he knew. Finally, the soldier in front who had threatened him lifted his head and sighed.

"What you mean is, we are ordered to follow you in battle?" he straightened up and said, "Despite you being in your adolescence, as we are without the General now, you have our numbers."

Norman clapped his hands together and said,

"Awesome. Now, if you could just head on to the very back of our numbers, there should be enough room." then Norman stretched out his hand, and the soldier looked at his belt, then took off an extra Gigaphone for Norman to use.

Norman took the Gigaphone and shouted into it, his voice booming all the way around the vast runway.

"Alright, everyone! I am addressing everyone here, including all you other-dimension dwellers! In order to get us all over to the Aether Palace, we're going to need some air support! It's got a giant force field of plasma around it, so that also means we need some kind of aircraft to take it down. Does anyone have an aircraft in their own game?"

People all raised their hands, shouting for attention. Norman pointed to Eon near the front and said,

"You've got something?"

Eon jumped up and landed on his staff, balancing athletically on top so make himself visible.

"Of course. My good friend Flynn has an aircraft named the Dread-Yacht we can use, let me just call him here before we go into battle."

Eon lowered himself back onto the ground again. Norman looked around for more hands, and then saw Barry fly up into the air with his hand raised, propelled by his bubble jetpack.

"I've got a lot of Mr. Cuddles duplicates! I can manufacture a new invention I've been working on lately, the Hydra Cuddles. It's ten times bigger than a Mr. Cuddles and has nine heads, we'll be able to fit a lot of people in there!" he declared.

Norman grinned and said,

"That should be great! Can you bring it in really quick?"

"Yeah, let me call my wife to ride it over here!" he replied.

Barry hovered back down onto the ground, so Norman pointed to Mario, who's army was right behind Eon's. Mario had to keep jumping up and down to make himself visible.

"You-a need an air-acraft? I can-a call-a up-a my good friend-a Rosalina and-a see-a if she'd like-a to lend us her-a Comet Observatory! Also, I own-a several aircrafts my-aself! I can bring-a in-a the Bullet Blitzer, the Cheep-Cheep Blimp, and-a Rainbow Ship!" he declared proudly.

Norman's grin widened even more.

"I think we'll have just enough room, then! First, everyone get your aircrafts into the runway except for the Comet Observatory, which we'll park outside. Let's go!"

* * *

The Glitch raised its wings and made an echoing vibration sound. Suddenly, from out of the gigantic ball of black plasma surrounding the Aether Palace, a giant machine began to stretch through. The machine was bigger than the entire palace, and once it was at its full length it stretched for thousands of blocks. It looked like a gigantic blaster, forming a gigantic hole at the end, not to mention the countless other blasters built in around the massive creation. The Glitch slithered out from the force field and stood atop a platform overlooking the gigantic technological terror. Slenderman stepped out onto the platform as well, silent. The Glitch looked down at Slenderman and said,

_"Slenderman, why do you remain silent whenever you are in my presence?"_

Slenderman did not answer, and stayed looking out around at the clouds beyond. The Glitch raised itself up ten more blocks, towering over Slenderman.

_"Is it because you have disappointed me and you are not willing to tell me of such things?"_

Slenderman lowered his head to avoid the Glitch's burning gaze. The Glitch stretched out a plasma wing and smashed Slenderman down to the ground, then leaned down close and said,

_"You have failed me, I know it. You did not kill Norman Cobweb or his friend. You let him destroy you, IN YOUR OWN DIMENSION! I had to waste my energy just to bring you back!"_

Slenderman did not even retaliate, but put his hands over his head for mercy and finally spoke.

**"Yes master..."**

The Glitch lowered to its normal—but still ginormous—size, and let out a metallic buzz in anger.

_"You will not fail me again. Now then, we must wait for Norman and his army of buffoons to come charging at us, then we will blast them with this machine."_

"Wait, what machine?"

Kaos walked onto the platform and looked over the giant death machine. He almost fell over the edge in surprise.

"WOAH! THAT'S HUGE! What is this thing?! You never told me about it!" he screamed.

_"Actually, Kaos, I'm glad you asked. I haven't gotten a chance to monologue for a while. I sent in a team of my sneakiest viruses to retrieve this from the 30thDimension where Fruit Ninja is located. I found out from secret sources that Sensei—that old sack of prunes who owns all those fruit-slicing ninjas—owned a death machine called the Fruit Firearm 5000 that ran on the sugar and sodium contents in fruits, and that it was extremely powerful. This machine, my friend, is the FF5000, which I stole from Sensei right under his nose. With this machine, nothing will be able to get past me!"_ declared the Glitch.

The Glitch let out an evil cackle, which echoed around the entire Aether. Just his laugh set several nearby clouds on fire. It stopped laughing and looked out into the clouds beyond. But then, he noticed something in the distance. A gigantic strangely-shaped aircraft was flying towards them, and even though it was only a tenth of the size of the FF5000 it was still relatively large. The Glitch used its special super-microscope vision and zoomed in on the aircraft.

He saw what looked like a gigantic spiky spinning top. It had several different mini islands branching off from its top, connected by beams of light, and in its core it held a massive sphere of glowing star energy. It was the Comet Observatory.

The Glitch raised his wing and then pointed at them, declaring,

_"There they are! FIRE AT WILL!"_

The front of the FF5000 glowed with red light, and from out of the giant gaping hole blasted a massive beam of crimson energy. The energy beam collided with the Comet Observatory in the distance, creating a gigantic fiery explosion as big as the force field around the Aether Palace. The Glitch smiled and lowered its wing, watching happily as the flames danced and the Comet Observatory's flaming remains plummeted down out of the sky.

But then, the Glitch stopped for a moment and looked closer. A large figure emerged from the fire. It was a gigantic green hydra, only about half as big as the Comet Observatory but still enourmous. And more figures came out from behind it, many other airships were zooming towards the Aether Palace. It saw the Dread Yacht, the Cheep Cheep Blimp, and Rainbow Ship all flying in a trio formation around Hydra Cuddles. The tune "El Dorado" by Two Steps From Hell began to play, adding to the action. The Glitch pounded its wing down angrily and screeched,

_"KILL THEM!"_

All the thousands of other blasters built into the FF5000 aimed at the aircrafts coming towards them. Beams of energy filled the air, flying, buzzing like swarms of angered bees. The gigantic green hydra airship blasted fire from out of its nine massive heads, countering the blasts. The airships began to grow closer, and so the Glitch got angrier, screaming and pounding.

_"I SAID KILL THEM! KILL THEM, YOU WORTHLESS MACHINE, KILL THEM!"_

Al of a sudden, a high-pitched screech occurred to the Glitch's right. He looked over to see another aircraft zooming towards the FF5000 faster than the speed of sound, it was the Bullet Blitzer. Before the Glitch could react, the Bullet Blitzer collided with the side of the FF5000, only it was going so fast that it tore right through, going all the way through to the other side in under a second.

A great explosion occurred from inside the FF5000, and the death machine rumbled violently. The front exploded, and the blasts kept occurring, flowing all the way down the FF5000's gigantic metal body, consuming it all in flame. The Glitch cursed loudly and echoed with its angry screech. And so, it turned around and slowly slithered back into the force field as their death machine destroyed itself. Slenderman followed close behind, his head still lowered. They had another plan.

* * *

Norman cheered loud and hard inside Hydra Cuddles along with the majority of his army. Most of them had to fit inside Barry's machine, as it was the biggest, but a couple hundred of his army remained on the other aircrafts around them. They hurtled towards the force field of plasma surrounding the Aether Palace and flew right into it, followed behind by the Cheep-Cheep Blimp and Rainbow Ship.

Norman was sitting in the co-pilot seat up front next to Barry, who was grinning with excitement.

"I knew the old girl would pull through!" he said, pounding his fist.

Norman looked around at the black plasma surrounding them, and thankfully they were able to go through without disintegrating. Norman looked around and even saw the force field dissipating away, and he figured that destroying the FF5000 had caused the plasma to run out of stamina energy.

Finally they landed on the giant open gate of the Aether Palace. The plasma appeared to be solid, and once everyone had landed he climbed down the side of Hydra Cuddles, landing roughly on the black plasma ground. He looked at the darkened ruins of the Aether Palace and took a cleansing breath, raising Shatter up. He walked forward, ready for anything, and his army streamed out of the airships behind him, soon to walk behind. They were ready.

Their army marched across the gate and entered the Aether Palace. The inside was also ruins, also made of the Glitch's plasma. The entire place was deserted. They kept marching, their footsteps echoing through the castle. Finally they reached the main sanctuary, which stretched hundreds upon hundreds of blocks in every direction. Norman stopped when he was in the very center, where an alter of pure white Glowstone sat. It was the Aether's core-named the Balance Core-the block that kept the dimension-and all of the Minecraft Dimension, for that matter-in existence. It was the only block that was not converted into plasma.

Suddenly, Norman looked up and saw the Glitch emerge from the shadows. And following behind him was his own army, made up of viruses. But Norman saw other figures come up front with the Glitch. His eyes widened. He saw the Pig King from Angry Birds, Kaos from Skylanders, Slenderman from Slender, Archivo de Datos from Jetpack Joyride, and Bowser from the Mario Bros. series. It was too much for him to handle, and when he saw the other warriors in the army his gut knotted up even more.

He saw green pigs of all different sizes wearing armor and carrying weapons, an array of darkly colored monsters and deadly-looking creatures, all with different weapons of some sort, ghoulish-looking children with tentacles for arms, a mass of protective-suit-wearing scientists with futuristic lasers, and finally thousands and thousands upon THOUSANDS of enemies from the Mario Bros. series, so many that it was too much to count. But then, he saw more figures formed around the edges. There were thousands of Minecraft hostile mobs, all glitched and slightly distorted. This army was almost twice as big as theirs.

Norman almost had thoughts of giving up, but instead he stood straighter, he wasn't about to give up. Despite the situation, he kept his faith in his friends. If they were going to die, they would die fighting.

**Now THAT is suspense! Will Norman and his army even stand any sort of chance against the Glitch's much larger army? Will they be tragically defeated, leaving the whole universe to its terrible fate? Will the Glitch finally get what it has been staying alive for and consume all of the universe as it planned? Find out next chapter in THE GLITCH! (Oh yeah, I can tell you're just itching for tomorrow... X3)**

***Pastrinator64 takes the opportunity to wrench his arm free of Herobrine and fall out of reach***

***Nyan Cat steers the Poptartmobile down and Pastrinator64 lands inside***

***they zoom off in the other direction, away from Herobrine***

***but when Pastrinator64 looks back in the backseat he sees that Herobrine was out of the blinding sugar cloud and was flying towards them on his cloud of smog***


	50. Chapter 50: The Final Battle

**My deepest apologies for the too-late-for-comfort chapter post, I had some trouble this morning with Fanfiction. I found out a little too late that you can only have a 50 document limit, (because I had 49 THE GLITCH chapters and one document for the How My Little Pony Ruined My Life) so I couldn't post the chapter in time, and I had to go to school. As you could imagine, I was extremely PO'd. -_- Anyway, now that I am here, let's get on with the story!**

**Hello, this is Pastrinator64 with another chapter from THE GLITCH. Last time on THE GLITCH we watched as Norman and his army attempted to penetrate the plasma force field and its security surrounding the possessed Aether Palace. After the secretly stolen (and supermassive) Fruit Firearm 5000 was destroyed, the Glitch and his accomplices were forced back into the floating castle. Now that Norman and his army are inside, we watch as the very final and official battle for the universe occurs between the good and evil armies.**

**Now, let the story commence! (The suspense is killing me! :D)**

_Chapter 50: The Final Battle_

Norman took in for the first time just how massive the Glitch was. The virus towered high over him, its eyes were bigger than his own head, even though they were slits. The mouth was gigantic as well. The wings themselves gave the Glitch roughly thirty extra meters of length. Norman and the Glitch just stared at each other for a few moments. Finally, the Glitch spoke.

_"Ah, Norman Cobweb. I have long awaited this moment. You do not know how eager I have been to finally meet you face to face."_

"I'm not sure if you can call that a face of yours, Glitch..." muttered Norman.

_"Such a primitive young mind of yours. So impatient..."_

"Well, a mind sought out to consume the universe in cold and darkness doesn't seem much better, does it?" he replied.

They exchanged a moment of silence again.

_"If you were truly smart you would give yourself to me now. It would save a lot of pain in the future, and you and your army would be killed painlessly instead. Sound like a plan?"_

"Sure, in your dreams."

The Glitch raised its wings up and Norman watched as a giant pitch-black scythe formed in its grasp. He lowered his wings so that the giant blade was square in between Norman's eyes.

_"This war is mine to win. I will be the ruler of all dimensions, AND YOU KNOW IT. Prepare to die, Norman Cobweb. You will be going back to your mother and father soon enough, suffering the same fate as theirs..."_

The Glitch raised its black scythe, ready to strike. Norman raised Shatter and shouted,

"ATTACK!"

The battle began...

Norman dodged to the right, avoiding the giant black blade of the Glitch's monster scythe. Armies clashed, weapons meeting weapons, warriors meeting warriors. It was sheer chaos. Norman ran through the crowd, dodging swings from the scythe above him. He smashed Shatter into a nearby enemy and set it on fire, making it fly back into the crowd.

After another dodge, Norman ducked low into the crowd and started crawling through.

_"Norman, this is not a game of hide-and-seek. Come out and fight, coward..."_

"Oh yeah? Then how come you've been," Norman grunted and smashed Shatter on the ground, using the Knockback effect to launch himself into the air at the Glitch. "Hiding all this time?!"

Norman swung downward, but the Glitch shifted around and move away, slashing forward the next second. Norman launched himself out of the way off of the ceiling and landed back on the ground, then scrambled to his feet. He started running, smashing enemies with his weapon as he went. At one point he spotted a Bullet Bill flying towards him, and he jumped up just in time to grasp onto it.

Norman rode the Bullet Bill into the air and took the opportunity to test his newest weapon feature. He stared at the Magnomatic, which had been recreated specially for him and inserted permanently onto the front of his diamond spade. He thrust it down at the Glitch while in the air, sending a buzzing electromagnetic wave. The wave sent a shudder through the Glitch's scythe, but not enough to destroy it.

Norman flew the Bullet Bill in circles and zigzags to avoid the swinging scythe of death and then blasted the handle again, which ripped through, sending the blade crashing down on twenty different scientists. The Glitch buzzed angrily and stretched out its wings to grab Norman, who's Bullet Bill was yanked from underneath him. Norman was about to hit the ground when he thrust Shatter downward and blasted the floor with magnetic energy, stopping him and turning him around to fly in the other direction.

Norman learned quickly how to fly through the air using the Magnomatic's magnetic waves, and he managed to dodge the Glitch. Finally, he flew up and aimed the beam at the Glitch, blasting a constant wave of electromagnetic energy. The Glitch screeched and dissipated away, its plasma sinking into the ground. Norman almost had hope, but then the Glitch launched out of the ground into the air, flapping its plasma wings.

_"That thing has wings?! Well, let's see if it can use them..."_ Norman thought silently.

The Glitch screeched again and zoomed at Norman, who grunted and flew in the opposite direction. Norman let go of the ground and started to fall, but he aimed up and connected a magnetic beam to the Glitch's wing, pulling him down to the ground. The Glitch screeched and smashed into the ground. Norman smashed the Glitch into walls around him and the ceiling, smashing away plasma with every hit. Finally, the Glitch combined itself to the wall and lurched his body up, swinging Norman instead, smashing him against the ceiling. Norman fell down towards the crowd so far below.

He balanced himself in the air and quickly moved out of the way of the Glitch's newly created scythe. He zoomed towards the ground, looked up to see the Glitch with his scythe raised, and blasted the blade with his magnified Shatter, thrusting backwards to send the Glitch flying far into the wall. He took the moment to duck down and land on the ground.

He quickly bashed his weapon into the rotten skull of an undead minor, blasting it through the crowd a second later. Then, he continued to blast away enemies to help his own army, but all of a sudden he saw something that caught his eye. A skeleton was standing amongst the enemy army and took a good look at it. It was staring directly at him. And it was smiling. It was the same skeleton who he had seen smiling at him when they were fleeing Smelttown back on that Mushroom Island. He grunted in anger and ran towards the thing, ready to end its life and wipe that creepy smile off his face.

The monster didn't even move.

Norman raised Shatter up high and was just about to smash the diamond spade into the skeleton's bony forehead when he froze. Everything turned to slow-motion as he had a flashback—from the very beginning of this book...

* * *

(((Norman pressed the Esc key, but nothing happened still. He held it down for a long time, and yet the screen didn't do anything. Norman growled and stood up. He then quickly checked out the window. Outside it was now completely dark, and only his porch light shone in the darkness. He looked down at the flower bed, and to his horror he saw his skeleton dad, staring up at him. Norman quickly pulled back as a sudden jolt of adrenaline ran down his spine. He moved back to his computer, but then heard a thumping noise on his bedroom door.)))

(((His zombified mother was on the other side, trying to break the door down. Norman looked over at Lizzy, who had begun to cry silently.)))

((("I don't want to die... I don't want to die... I don't want to die..." she murmured in a panicked voice.)))

(((Norman pulled her closer to his possessed computer. Suddenly, having an idea, Norman pressed hard on the Delete key, hoping something would happen. And something DID happen. At first, the broken screen was blank. But then, the background of the black and purple lava lamp appeared looking choppy and scattered. Norman could just make out the new words on the screen.)))

(((**_Always extend a hand to those in need. It might just help you..._**)))

(((Suddenly, Norman realized what he had to do. But before he could reach a hand towards his computer, he heard a noise from behind him. His skeleton father had climbed into his room, and was grinning at him with a great big creepy smile. Lizzy screamed at the top of her lungs and grabbed Norman for dear life. Norman wasted no time and flung his arm at the screen. Surprisingly, his hand went right into the background of the creepy website. He felt himself being sucked inside the computer, and as he looked back, his skeletal father began to fade away. The next thing Norman knew, he was in complete darkness with Lizzy.)))

* * *

Norman's flashback ended and he stared at the skeleton.

_"Dad?"_ he thought to himself.

Norman looked around at all the other glitched hostile mobs around him, taking in the truth.

"But if this is dad, then does that mean..." he said silently.

_"YES NORMAN, IT IS TRUE!"_

Norman whirled his head around and saw the Glitch floating above him, his scythe raised, crackling with the blackest plasma.

_"The mobs you see before you are not from this dimension. They are the humans from Earth, your home planet, the only creatures from that miserable ball of muck that survived. Even the President of the United States has been mutated. If you want to see him, look for a Creeper wearing a tie. MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHEHEHEHEHEHEHEGGHH!" _screamed the Glitch.

Norman's mind went cold. But after a period of cold came anger. His anger boiled up inside him bad enough that he could've sworn his blood had turned to a boil.

"YOU MONSTER!"

_"Technically, I'm a virus."_

"I DON'T GIVE A CRAP!"

_"Yes, that would be strange if you pooed your pants right now, wouldn't it?"_

"JUST SHUT UP! I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!"

_"Norman, Norman, didn't your parents teach you that violence isn't the answer?"_

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Norman raised Shatter and blasted the Glitch with a large burst of electromagnetic energy, then when he had a good grasp he pulled backwards, sucking the Glitch's plasma right from its body. He ripped off an entire wing, which collided with Shatter and was destroyed. The Glitch plummeted to the ground, scattering a couple hundred people when his plasma broke away, scattering everywhere.

Just a reduced blob of black plasma remained sitting there, and one of the Glitch's eyes. Norman stomped towards it, his weapon at his side, parting the fighting crowd. Norman approached the large open space with the Glitch's remains in the middle. The one red eye glanced at Norman and then the Glitch's voice echoed magically through the air.

_"Alright, enough fleeing and long-range attacks. Now we fight face-to-face."_ muttered the Glitch.

The plasma scattered around all flowed towards the center of the space, connecting once again with the Glitch. The Glitch rose up with its newly formed body, but then shifted around to become a smaller figure. It formed into a smiling Esmeralda, holding out her hand.

_"Hello Norman, how about a nice cookie and a back massage? I'll do anything for Jeff's little buddy!"_

Norman glared, and then it turned her green and made her zombie Esmeralda.

_"Hey everyone! It's not easy being green!"_

Norman grunted in anger and ran forward, swinging at Esmeralda. But the Glitch swished around behind Norman and formed a new shape before him. It was Hilary, holding out a sponge.

_"Here, let me soak up that wound. I'll always be here to heal up your frail and easily damaged body, so don't worry."_

Norman grunted and ran forward again. He swung, but missed as the Glitch swirled around in another swish of black plasma. He stopped and then formed Jeff, holding his iron sword.

_"Norman, I thought that I could trust you... I guess that I was wrong, you murderer..."_

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! JUST SHUT THE FREAKING GOD UP! I DON'T WANT TO HEAR YOU!" screamed Norman, running forward to smash the Glitch's Jeff imitation.

The Glitch's Jeff leaped over Norman's head and landed behind him. Norman whirled around angrily, baring his teeth and raising Shatter.

_"Oh, I don't want to hear YOU! Maybe you should listen," _the Glitch swirled around and formed a new person. He created an exact copy of Norman holding Shatter._"To yourself. You wouldn't wound your own body, would you?"_ taunted the Glitch.

Norman yelled out in anger, and his copy did the same. Then, the Glitch taunted him even more by putting a furry, black, Italian moustache on Norman's copy and making him go cross-eyed. That put Norman over the edge, and he raised Shatter, slamming it into the ground with both hands. A powerful electric pulse split through the floor and collided with the Glitch, making his copy explode into thousands of tiny plasma bits.

Despite all the roars and yells and screams of pain coming from the battle around him, Norman only heard the sound of his breathing. But then, he stood up straight and watched in horror as plasma began to swirl all around him. All of it rotated around the same point, all around Norman. Suddenly, from above the Glitch's body reappeared from the plasma, and the two's eyes met. The Glitch flew down onto the ground with both wings still intact and opened its mouth, revealing the gaping black hole inside.

_"SAY GOODBYE, NORMAN COBWEB! YOU... HAVE... FAILED!"_ screamed the Glitch.

But then, a blinding flash of light appeared above Norman's head and he squinted into it. Three ghostly silver figures floated out from a large white vortex created in midair. Both the good and evil armies looked to see what was going on. The three silver ghosts floated down and then stopped above the Glitch. The one in front flew down and hovered right in front of Norman, its ghostly wings folded together.

_"Norman Cobweb, we must introduce ourselves. I am Farixz the First, to my left and right are Serisdo the Second and Thorvon the Third. We are the Spirits In Between, the ancient beings who created all of the dimensions since the beginning of existence."_

"Wait, the Spirits In Between? Are you the ones who wrote the Divination of Dimensions?" murmured Norman.

_"Yes. We have come to bring back the rulers of this dimension, and they will aid you in defeating—"_

_"Alright, Farixz, we are in the middle of a battle, you are not going to interrupt."_ when Farixz didn't move, he opened his great mouth and said,_ "Fine then! I will have to kill you!"_

The Glitch blasted from his mouth a crackling beam of black and red plasma, but as soon as it was near Farixz the spirit formed a silver force field around him, and the plasma was merely absorbed. The Glitch could have hit Farixz with a pillow and it would have done more damage. Farixz turned around in his bubble and raised his wings, trapping the Glitch inside a bubble like his.

_"I will let fate continue on its path AFTER I explain everything to the young hero..."_

Farixz turned around casually and said to Norman,

_"As I was saying, they will aid you in battle against the Glitch, and you will win. Although, it is not you who will destroy him, but someone else. Someone has disturbed the strings of fate and a flaw was created in the Divination of Dimensions..."_

"It was me."

Everyone turned around and watched as a figure made their way through the crowd. Muttonchop came into view with his diamond shears—Shred, if you remember—and stopped once he was in the middle with Norman.

"I have done this."

"Muttonchop?"

Norman looked up and saw Notch fly down on a cloud to the ground from out of the vortex. He was back! Back from the... Dead? How does the ruler of all dead people die? Wouldn't he go to the Aether... Again? Never mind.

Notch stood in front of Muttonchop and said,

"Muttonchop, you've been with us in the Aether for years, you can't have done this, and it's not something you would do. What would you have done, anyway?"

Norman was still ecstatic about Notch being back, but he kept his focus on Muttonchop. He didn't know Muttonchop, really, all he knew was that he was a really good soldier.

"You don't understand, I'm not Muttonchop." said Muttonchop.

Muttonchop grabbed a handful of his cyan fur and ripped it out. People groaned and went "ow" as he did so, but finally he was reduced to a furless and scrawny sheep. Then, he ripped off a handful of his skin, and Norman's stomach lurched. But then, he noticed there was no blood. A HUMAN HAND came through the hole and ripped open the hole, and finally another figure emerged from the strange Muttonchop costume.

It was a human! A tall and skinny human in a lab coat, which bony hands and a skinny face and wild Einstein hair. Norman was so confused that his head felt scrambled. Then, the Glitch spoke from inside its ball.

_"What?! How could it be?! Is that... Professor Explotar?!"_

The professor nodded seriously and raised a strange-looking remote.

"Yes, and I have come all the way from Earth to destroy you."

**WTFP?! (what the freaking Poptart?!) What?! How?! Why?! When?! All of this is so confusing! How did Professor Explotar get into the Minecraft Dimension? What kind of motive is he keeping a secret? And what other double-lives have people been secretly committing to?! Find out... MAYBE next chapter, in THE GLITCH!**

***Pastrinator64 looks back to see that Herobrine was no longer distracted and that he was already flying towards them with his diamond sword outstretched***

***Pastrinator64 reaches into his pocket and pulls out a glowing Poptart called the Powertart, his most powerful weapon***

***the Powertart begins to whirl around Pastrinator64, and Pastrinator64's whole body begins to radiate with pinkish energy (suggesting that it is strawberry colored)***

***Pastrinator64 is now Super Pasty, the greatest never-known superhero in existence***


	51. Chapter 51: Ending It Before It Began

**Hello, this is Pastrinator64 with another chapter from THE GLITCH. Last time on THE GLITCH we witnessed the epic battle between Norman's army and the Glitch's army. Norman and the Glitch fought face-to-face, only this time Norman had a magnetic weapon to protect himself with. In the midst of the battle, the Spirits In Between appeared before everyone and stopped everything to tell Norman of a flaw in the Divination of Dimensions. Well, Professor Explotar had somehow made his way into the Minecraft Dimension disguised as Muttonchop the anthropomorphic sheep warrior that worked with Notch. Now we watch as Norman finally figures out how to absorb the Glitch, and attempts to do so.**

**Now, let the story commence!**

_Chapter 51: Ending it Before it Began_

_"But that is impossible! After you set me free in your lab I possessed and killed you!"_ declared the Glitch.

"I don't have to explain anything, you evil virus." he pressed a button on his remote and suddenly a giant black supercomputer materialized before him. "This is my newly enhanced E.S.C. (Electromagnetic Sensor Computer), and it will consume both you and you when you appeared in the past! You won't get away from me any time!" declared Professor Explotar.

But before anything could happen, another voice echoed from above.

"You will not go through with this, you liar!"

Everyone looked up again to see Herobrine coming down onto the ground, floating on a cloud of smog. He landed and said,

"Before you can do anything suspicious, I'm going to have to kill you. I know your real intentions!"

"Herobrine, what has gotten into you?! First, the Glitch possessed you, now you are acting angry towards someone you don't even know!" said Notch, grabbing his shoulder.

Herobrine shook away the hand and said,

"You old fool, I'm not even Herobrine, just as he wasn't Muttonchop!"

Herobrine ripped away at his skin just like Professor Explotar had, and a new figure came into view. It was Professor Sheepson! Norman's mouth dropped open and he said,

"Professor?! What the heck..."

Before Norman could process the situation the professor spoke again and pushed the tip of his gold-topped cane into Professor Explotar's chest.

"You may have come back to absorb the Glitch, but only to use the virus for your own! I know it! I disguised myself as Herobrine and spied in on that meeting with Notch and the other antagonists, you were the one who originally created the Glitch! Well, I've come to stop you from going any further!" he said angrily.

Notch started to become confused and muttered,

"But... Herobrine... Meeting... Where... What...?"

Norman,

"But how did you know how to find... Uhhh..."

Professor Sheepson popped the gold top off his cane and thrust it downward, making a small blade click into place. Then, oldest and most crippled of the Gentlemobs lunged forward athletically and tried to kill Professor Explotar. But the other professor moved to the side to avoid the stab. Professor Sheepson did a summersault and then jumped onto his feet, running again at Professor Explotar.

But Professor Explotar pulled out a strange-looking futuristic gun, and when he pulled the trigger it shot off a spray of liquid nitrogen, which connected with Professor Sheepson's right hoof, freezing his cane to his hand painfully. The professor grunted in pain, but continued onward. Unfortunately for Professor Explotar, his freeze gun was out of liquid nitrogen, so he picked up Shred and ran forward at the other professor. They both raised their weapons in the air, and both their backs cracked painfully due to them both being elderly.

For a moment they stood there hilariously, just stuck in that one position, but finally Professor Sheepson cracked his back in the right spot and smashed Professor Explotar with his cane, creating a gash across his forehead and knocking him backwards onto the ground. The moment later, Professor Explotar threw Shred and it created an even deeper and bloodier gash in Professor Sheepson's chest. The anthro sheep fell to the ground wheezing in pain, putting a hand to his wound, the other still frozen to his cane.

Notch was about to rush forward when Farixz willed the forces of nature to make him stop. He believed it was still a matter of fate.

Finally, Professor Sheepson yelled out in anger and raised his cane/sword into the air for the final blow. But then yet another voice called from the crowd.

"Professor Sheepson, my colleague!"

Norman and everyone else watched Professor Pigson walk through the crowd, balancing on his own cane. Professor Sheepson stayed still with his weapon raised.

"I... Cannot... Change my mind... If that's what... You want..." muttered the professor.

Professor Pigson stopped beside his fellow professor and said,

"You cannot do this, my dear friend! He is not truly evil as you think! What would a Gentlemob do? Certainly not use violence, I would hope! Please, let us bring you to the infirmary and heal you up before it is too late!"

Professor Pigson put a hoof on his colleague's shoulder, but was pushed back.

"I don't need your help. If I'm going to die of old age or this wound, I am going to die while doing the right thing!"

Professor Sheepson let out an angry cry and brought down his blade upon the wounded Professor Explotar. Professor Pigson THREW himself forward and the blade was stabbed into his neck, pushing him to the ground. Professor Explotar backed away immediately to escape. Professor Sheepson stared at his dying fellow professor and murmured,

"What have I done...?"

He fell to his knees and sobbed, but the effort hurt. He coughed and wheezed as more blood soaked his chest from his wound. Norman couldn't stand the moment any longer and ran forward. He took the blade from out of Professor Pigson's neck and took him in his arms, small enough for him to hold. The Professor looked up at him with fading eyes and started coughing up blood.

"Don't worry, professor, we'll take you and Professor Sheepson to the infirmary and heal you up right away. Everything's gonna turn out ok." muttered Norman.

Professor Pigson slowly shook his head.

"No... My time has come... I do not think... I can make it... Please... Leave me... It is time... To... Rest..."

And with one final breath, Professor Pigson drifted away into his neverending sleep. Norman put his face on the professor's torso and started to sob, his tears trickling down his pink stomach. He had been the one to give him all the advice he needed on how to fix up his broken life, and now he was gone. No one even bothered him. But suddenly, the professor lifted his head and oinked quietly.

"Norman, your tears, they do tickle."

Norman looked into the professor's opening eyes and said,

"Wait, but you just died!"

Norman looked and noticed that his neck wound was completely gone. Professor Pigson stood up well and alive and said,

"Of course, my boy! But, just like the people of Minecraft, all good-hearted mobs go to the Aether when they die. So, I am as lively as ever, but I am still dead!"

Just then, Professor Sheepson moaned, and Norman turned to see him lying flat on the ground. Professor Pigson leaned over, and when the other professor saw him he said,

"Oh... Right... We... Come... Ba—"

Professor Sheepson passed away at that very moment. Norman waited for a few moments for Professor Sheepson to open his eyes again, but it never happened. Professor Pigson took off his top hat and held it before him, drooping his head sadly.

"I am afraid that he has corrupted himself too far... His soul has perished..." he murmured.

Everyone remained silent, all sharing the sadness of the occurrence, and for some reason even the evil side stayed silent. All of a sudden, the Glitch spoke from behind.

_"Yes, yes, this is all very sad, but may FATE take its path again?"_ it said from inside its force field.

But no one moved to get back to the battle. Farixz didn't make a move to let the Glitch go. Finally, the Glitch got too impatient and screeched in anger, and the bubble around it disintegrated. People screamed as it flew up into the air and expanded, stretching out its wings.

But then, Farixz, Serisdo, and Thorvon flew together and linked their wings, making a triangle. They glowed with silver energy and spun around rapidly. Within a few seconds giant beams of energy flew from inside their triangle, traveling underneath and over the spirits, and landing on the Glitch's expanded body wrapping it with indestructible energy, binding it, sending it crashing down onto the floor below.

From inside Norman's mind, Farixz spoke to him.

_"Norman Cobweb, do this quickly or the fate of all dimensions will turn black... Take your three rulers and have the man known as Professor Explotar put them inside the brain of his supercomputer named E.S.C., transfer enough electromagnetic energy to them as possible, send them back in time to when the Glitch first appeared to consume him for the first time, and then use the supercomputer to absorb the Glitch now in the present time. You MUST have this be done at the exact same time for both past and present viruses, otherwise our universe will become trapped in a time-space continuum. Do it quickly while we have the Glitch contained, we cannot hold him forever..."_ Farixz explained.

Norman didn't even question about the past or present stuff, he just ran off and found Notch meeting with Queen Enderdragon. People had started fighting around them again, both armies continued to clash. Once Norman had approached the two he said,

"Where's the real Herobrine, then? Farixz said that I need to get Professor Explotar to put you all in that supercomputer," Norman pointed to the giant black E.S.C. supercomputer that Professor Explotar had teleported there. "Charge you three up with electromagnetic energy, make you combined that energy and travel to the past and blast the Glitch when it first appeared, and at the same time Professor Explotar will blast the Glitch here, absorbing both past and present Glitches into the supercomputer! But we need to do both at the exact same time; otherwise we'll be stuck in some time-space continuum. So like I said, where's the real Herobrine? We need him right now!"

"Alright, what the hell's going on here?!"

Norman, Notch, and Queen Enderdragon turned around to see Herobrine approaching. Herobrine had made his way through all the chaos to get to them.

"Herobrine! Where have you been this whole time?!" inquired Queen Enderdragon.

Norman ran off to get Professor Explotar and came back with him a moment later.

"We can explain things AFTER you save the world, ok?" muttered Norman.

Professor Explotar ran up to the rulers and said,

"Alright, I don't know who you are, but I just need you to do what I say, alright?"

They nodded—but Herobrine had missed the orientation, so he was confused. Professor Explotar made his way over to his gigantic black E.S.C. supercomputer sitting nearby and went around back where some giant cords and plugs were. He ushered over the rulers and they came over.

"Link yourselves."

The three of them did so, grabbing hand to hand to tail—Queen Enderdragon was fresh out of opposable thumbs. Once they were linked Professor Explotar grunted as he lifted up a large plug with both hands and walked it towards them.

"Alright, now stay completely still, you are now going to be transferred into the brain of the supercomputer..."

He inserted the little electric tabs into Notch's chest—without him even feeling anything—and the three of the rulers were sucks into the plug. The professor moved the plug back to the machine and inserted it inside, then started flipping switches and pressing buttons.

"Let me make sure that their program's brainwave frequency for their data files is in sync with my computer... Alright, now when they are charged up they will be sent back in time to my year of 2014 on July 24th to erase the past virus. At the exact same time, I will set time coordinates for it to absorb this virus here, and both past and present viruses will be deleted forever."

The professor moved around to the screen and watched as a bar on a graph rose up slowly to show that the three rulers were being charged with electromagnetic energy.

"T-minus ten, nine, eight, seven..."

Farixz cried out in pain from nearby and Norman looked to see that the Glitch was started to eat away at their wings.

_"Hurry! We cannot hold it for long!"_ he screamed.

"Six, five, four, three..."

Finally the Glitch broke away from its bonds and disintegrated all three pairs of wings of the Spirits in Between, rising up angrily.

"Two, ONE!"

Professor Explotar slammed his fist on a small green button on the front and immediately a satellite dish rose up out of the top of the supercomputer and turned to face the Glitch, then blasted it with a thin blast of transparent energy, beginning to suck up the Glitch like a black hole.

The Glitch screeched as its body became distorted, its plasma being sucked towards the needle of the satellite dish. It turned and glared at Norman, who was watching in both shock and awe.

_"NO! I HAVE NOT ACHIEVED MY PERFECT FORM! YOU IDIOTS CANNOT CONSUME ME WITH YOUR PUNY ELECTROMAGNETIC ENERGY! I TOO HAVE MY OWN BLACK HOLE!"_

The Glitch whirled around towards the suction force of the satellite and opened its mouth, using its own black hole inside to overpower the other. Suddenly, the electromagnetic vortex coming from the satellite became visible, and the Glitch was trying to suck another black hole into his own black hole—which should've been physically impossible. But slowly, bit by bit the electromagnetic vortex began to suck the plasma from the Glitch's body again. The Glitch screeched, flailing its giant plasma wings, trying to his the machine, but those two were caught in the force.

Norman knew that the Glitch would eventually win against the machine, and he knew what he had to do. He ran around back of the Glitch and thrust Shatter at the Glitch, blasting its plasma towards the vortex even harder. The Glitch screeched louder and louder, just its screech disintegrating hundreds of plasma blocks up in the ceiling, shaking the entire Aether Palace.

Finally, after minutes of painful screeching, the Glitch finally gave up and its whole body was sucked through the vortex into the needle on the satellite. The satellite lowered down into the E.S.C. supercomputer. Everything went quiet. The fighting amongst the good and evil armies ceased, no one continued yelling. Norman smiled a little and felt warmth again, and when he looked around him he saw that the Aether Palace was beginning to shift back into its old self again as all the plasma around them began to replace itself with wool. Norman looked back at the supercomputer.

He crossed his fingers, hoping that their three rulers had made it back in time—or whatever they had to do, he wasn't sure of anything anymore—and that they wouldn't be stuck in a time-space continuum. Finally, a buzzing sound was heard from the back of the machine and Norman looked behind. First, Notch materialized out of the same open plug and landed flat on the ground. Then Herobrine appeared and fell on top of him, making Notch grunt in pain. But worst, Queen Enderdragon came out last, squashing both Notch and Herobrine.

Norman laughed for a second while Queen Enderdragon rolled tiredly off her fellow rulers, who were practically part of the floor at that point. They were still alive, and as the evil army of the Glitch ran away in fear Norman's army cheered loud and hard, singing songs, or just crying out in excitement. The song "We Are the Champions" rang through the room from an unknown source. They had won. The only problem was, they had a lot of cleaning up to do...

**That's right! WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS! HURRAAAAAAAAYYYYYY! Norman and his friends have finally won the war against the Glitch, and now both the past and present Glitches are absorbed into the E.S.C. supercomputer! I usually have two or three questions to ask right about now, but this time I only have one. What now? Find out NEXT chapter in THE GLITCH!**

***Super Pasty flies up off of the Poptartmobile and runs into Herobrine, and the two of them start to fight***

***Super Pasty thrusts upward and smacks him in the chin, sending him flying backwards***

***Herobrine flips right-side up and swings his sword downward, sending a wave of lava from out of the tip***

***Super Pasty pulls back with his chest and sucks inward, inhaling all of the lava like he was Kirby***

***he blasts it back out of his mouth as a lethal spray of acid-like strawberry frosting shards, sending it towards the unsuspecting Herobrine***


	52. Chapter 52: Secrets Revealed

**Hello, this is Pastrinator64 with another chapter from THE GLITCH. Last time on THE GLITCH we watched as Herobrine turned out to be Professor Sheepson in disguise, and as he tried to kill Professor Explotar because of false thoughts about his intentions. But in the end, both Professor Sheepson AND Professor Pigson die from his attacks, but Professor Pigson is revived in the Aether, leaving Professor Sheepson truly perished. Finally, with the help of Professor Explotar and his gigantic E.S.C. supercomputer they sucked up the Glitch from both the past and present! They had won! Now that the war is over and the Divination of Dimensions has been fulfilled Norman and Lizzy go with Farixz the First to figure out all of the confusing scenes that they have witnessed. Prepare yourself for a MINDBLOWING chapter!**

**Now, let the story commence!**

_Chapter 52: Secrets Revealed_

Despite their epic victory, thousands of dead bodies were scattered around the vast sanctuary, the floor soaked with blood. First it took them a couple of hours to remove the bodies and put them in the infirmary before proper burial, then it took another few hours to fill the gigantic room with water to clean it. After everything was said and done, Norman looked around the room and saw it as sparkly clean again. He sighed and wiped the sweat off his forehead. Lizzy approached him with a dirty sponge and said,

"So, how's it going, dude?"

Norman shrugged.

"Pretty good." he looked to see Professor Explotar talking to Farixz over by his supercomputer, which looked battered and roughed up from absorbing both the past and present Glitches. "But, I'm just so confused. I need answers. Why was Professor Sheepson disguised as Herobrine? Where did the real Herobrine go? Why was Professor Explotar disguised as Muttonchop? How did Professor Sheepson track and find Professor Explotar disguised as Muttonchop? Professor Sheepson asked me when we first met to find his son, who he thought was Muttonchop, but Muttonchop wasn't really a sheep, so why did he want to find Professor Explotar so bad? None of it makes any sense."

Lizzy looked down and said,

"Yeah, my brains are pretty scrambled at the moment, too."

_"Well question no further, young heroes."_

Norman looked up and saw Farixz floating towards them.

"Can you tell us what's been going on? The truth?" asked Norman hopefully.

Farixz began to fly away and said,

_"It is necessary that you must know. Please, follow me somewhere where we can talk in private."_

Norman and Lizzy followed him anxiously, desperate to know the truth. They made their way all the way to the other side of the room and then began their descent down an enclosed flight of stairs. Finally they reached the end of the stairs and turned right into a smaller room looking like an old meeting room. Norman and Lizzy sat down in some nearby chairs and Farixz floated up to the front of the room.

_"Alright, I am going to explain everything I can, and it will be hard to comprehend, but please try your best..."_ he said.

Norman and Lizzy nodded, so Farixz began his explanation. (Psst, prepare yourself for some pretty mind-blowing secrets; try to figure everything out if you can!)

_"Let me start with your friend Professor Sheepson. Professor Sheepson gave himself surgery and cut open his own body to alter his code, transforming himself into Herobrine as a disguise to infiltrate the first meeting with Notch and Queen Enderdragon, to act as Herobrine getting a headache in the Nether, and to infiltrating the secret dinner party/meeting with all the other antagonists from other dimensions. He did this to find out the plans of when and how they would track and kill the Glitch so he could find "Muttonchop"._

_"Muttonchop was actually Professor Explotar from the past, who traveled using his virus-filled supercomputer that used to delete the viruses similar to what Norman and Lizzy did in the beginning with Norman's Pear later in the future, which he did when the Glitch first appeared, and then used The Void's time-space continuum properties to stay down there for several weeks in a single second._

_"In that time, Professor Explotar altered his genetic makeup by absorbing a wandering virus from the Glitch, engineering it using secret science that is NOT revealed until he turned into Muttonchop. He used some leftover viruses to alter the entire Minecraft Dimension's memory, making Muttonchop seem like a real character that's always been around. Then Professor Explotar entered the Aether Palace as "Muttonchop" and worked with Notch for only a couple days, though everyone thought it had been for years because of the amnesia virus. The whole time, Professor Explotar had known in the past that his computer wouldn't be able to sustain the viruses all at once, so he went through the whole sci-fi process to come through and find the Glitch and stop it with a newly advanced supercomputer, transporting himself and the supercomputer (still named E.S.C. (Electromagnetic Sensor Computer)) using the Glitch's own viruses unnoticed._

_"Professor Sheepson was trying to stop Professor Explotar (Muttonchop) because after hearing at the secret dinner party/meeting with Notch that the professor was the one who originally created the Glitch he thought that Professor Explotar was going to come into the Minecraft Dimension to find the Glitch and reinforce it to do his bidding with the new computer, as all he heard was that Professor Explotar had been an insane and sadistic man. So Professor Sheepson altered his genetic code again after learning more from an unsuspicious Doctor Squidson, and he reprogrammed his natural senses to track any suspicious wandering data in the whole dimension, as he already knew from the meeting he spied on that they were in a computer's program. He used this new tracking technique to find and track down Professor Explotar (Muttonchop) within the code of their dimension and kill him, not knowing that Professor Explotar was actually trying to save the universe._

_"Also, when Professor Sheepson was in the Nether disguised as Herobrine he had his brain checked by a magma cube, although you probably would not have known that. So, when Professor Sheepson was disguised as Herobrine with a headache and the tiny magma cube went inside his brain to find the source of the headache, the startling image that caused the magma cube to despawn inside was actually the sight of the disguised Professor Sheepson's coded Savegame ID that showed he was actually the professor. The little magma cube actually despawned from the shock of realizing that the Herobrine he knew was really Professor Sheepson in disguise and the dangerously altered code that half-destroyed him._

_"The reason Professor Sheepson had pretended that he was Herobrine with the bad headache was to fool Notch into thinking that Herobrine was being possessed. And he is right, because Notch comes down to the Nether with what he has left of his army and tries to kill Herobrine. Professor Sheepson wanted Professor Explotar disguised as Muttonchop to appear in Notch's army so he could come and kill who he thought was an evil professor._

_"Ironically, Professor Sheepson was the liveliest of his society before he had altered his code, which actually drained him into an elderly and painful state. After getting his energy drained, Professor Sheepson's eyes turned a blank white because some of his mob skin codes were altered by accident. In the first look at the Glitch down in The Void while meeting a few cameo villains where they had hosted a very secret meeting to plot evilly, a figure came towards the Glitch with WHITE EYES. Do you think it was Herobrine being possessed? No, it was really Professor Sheepson with his blank white eyes, giving the illusion that the startling image inside Herobrine's brain causing the headache was actually the Glitch's virus and that Herobrine had turned evil to join the Glitch. Actually, the white eyes were Professor Sheepson's. But, what the Glitch didn't know was that the real Herobrine had altered his code after being taught thoroughly about code by Notch, turning himself into Professor Sheepson to spy on the Glitch during their dinner party/meeting without the Glitch knowing. So the Professor Sheepson at the meeting in The Void was just Herobrine in disguise—which answers your question on where the real Herobrine had been the whole time._

_"The real Herobrine thought that Professor Sheepson was evil after he found out that he was altering his own code to track another unknown data file, so he used this knowledge to take a wild guess at Professor Sheepson possibly being involved with the Glitch and he turned out right, so he was able to infiltrate easily. The Glitch was actually deceived about both the real Professor Sheepson actually being good and just acting evil and the fact that the Professor Sheepson with it during the meeting in The Void was really Herobrine in disguise._

_"The reason that the real Herobrine did not find Professor Sheepson as Herobrine in disguise at all the meetings and in his Nether fortress was because the real Herobrine's memory was being altered by the Glitch's viruses everywhere and his entire empire thought that he was inside the Nether fortress the whole time with a headache. The real Herobrine's memories were altered so that he thought he had to find Norman somewhere in The Void and that he was captured when he really wasn't, and that was when he took the opportunity down inside to disguise himself as Professor Sheepson to spy on the Glitch's secret meeting with all the other villains._

_"In the past, in the year 2014 on July 24th when the Glitch disappeared from your planet in New York, a civilian took a photo of the strange solar eclipse that had made the virus disappear. The silhouette was a large battered figure, but too hard to identify. The large beaten up looking shadow that had caused the Glitch to disappear into The Void was the new E.S.C. supercomputer that had taken a beating when absorbing the Glitch in the Minecraft Dimension in the future when transported by Notch, Herobrine, and Queen Enderdragon. Beforehand of the virus absorbing Professor Explotium put Notch, Herobrine and Queen Enderdragon into the brain of the new supercomputer and gave them enough energy to seal away the Glitch from 400 years ago when it first was to be sealed into the magic prison in The Void. In other words, the supercomputer (E.S.C.) in the future in the Minecraft Dimension gave the three rulers the powers to seal away the Glitch in the past 400 years ago on Earth before absorbing it again in the future, as the time-traveling time-space continuum caused two Glitches of the past and future to come into existence. So, the new E.S.C. supercomputer is protected and encased with billions of years worth of electromagnetic energy to slowly eat away at both past and present Glitches' massive virus bodies. With both mega mutated plasma beasts sealed away inside the new but slightly battered E.S.C. we will quickly hurtle the supercomputer down into The Void so that in the billions of years it will take for both Glitches to come out again the electromagnetic energy will keep breaking both into tinier and tinier pieces while at the same time the supercomputer will forever fall into its endless depths, making sure that it would take trillions upon trillions of millennium for the viruses to escape._

_"Finally, The Glitch knew in the future about its death that would occur in the past, so it erased the past memories of how Notch, Herobrine and Queen Enderdragon had sealed the Glitch away and replaced it with fake memories of them just having magical powers over the whole code as they usually did, hoping that they would never find out the truth and destroy it for real. That's why Notch, Herobrine and Queen Enderdragon didn't know that their power from 400 years ago came from themselves being supercharged with electromagnetic energy in the future. If the Glitch hadn't done so then we would have been able to figure out how to seal up both viruses earlier."_ finished Farixz, folding his wings.

By this time Norman's head felt so dizzy that he wanted to throw up. Lizzy really did throw up. After getting cleaned up, Lizzy swallowed and looked at Farixz and murmured,

"Is that all? Are we done here? Even if we aren't, I don't want to hear any more, I don't think my brain can handle it..."

"Me neither..." muttered Norman.

Farixz floated towards the door and said,

_"Now that you know the entire truth, I must depart. My fellow Spirits and I need to rest in our own dimension. This has been a bigger ordeal than we have endured in a long, long time, so I am afraid we will not be present at the celebration occurring at 8:00 tonight."_

Just as Farixz the First exited the room Norman called out,

"Wait a minute, what celebration?"

**Whew! *Pastrinator64's brain melts and streams out of his ears* That was pretty confusing! Did you catch it all? If you did, then good for you, I'd be surprised if anyone could understand it entirely! Now then, what epic celebration are they going to be holding? Can Norman even handle having fun yet? Find out next chapter in THE GLITCH! (Only two more chapters of the story left! So exciting! ;D)**

***Herobrine is blinded and burned by the frosting shard spray***

***Super Pasty decides to finish him off and blasts an acid-like beachball-sized sphere of deadly strawberry filling***

***the filling death ball explodes on contact with Herobrine, disintegrating him into a cloud of white smoke***

***everyone in the Poptartmobile cheers for Super Pasty***


	53. Chapter 53: The Party of a Lifetime

**Hello, this is Pastrinator64 with the 2nd to last chapter for THE GLITCH. Last time on THE GLITCH we watched as Farixz the First explained several eye-popping, mind-blowing secrets to Norman and Lizzy to better explain everything that had happened. About three people appeared to all have been living double lives and that somehow they had gotten themselves caught in a never-ending time-space continuum where there was both a Glitch from the past and the present! After a long explanation, Farixz announced that a celebration would be held at 8:00 that night; which is basically right at that moment. Now we watch as Norman does something during the party that NO ONE would ever expect him to do, something completely out of his nature that he planned to bring everyone down on their knees because of the awesomeness of it.**

**Now, let the story commence!**

_Chapter 53: The Party of a Lifetime_

Lizzy jumped up out of her seat and ran out the door.

"PARTY?! WHERE?!"

Norman jumped up and ran after her.

"LIZZY! HOLD UP A MOMENT!"

He kept running, and when he entered the gigantic sanctuary again his mouth dropped to the floor.

The first thing he noticed was the music, which happened to be "Screw the Nether". Decorations and lights were hung everywhere, colors were flashing everywhere. Everything was darkened except for the shining lights, which swirled around and flashed. All of his army that had survived was dancing all around, partying about the Glitch being gone. Then, just as the song ended and changed into "Skelly Heart" Norman felt a grab on his wrist and he snapped back into focus, seeing that Lizzy was pulling on his arm. He was dragged into the crowd by her.

"Lizzy, wait! I don't dance!" he protested.

She ignored him and pulled him along until they reached near the center of the room where the DJ's stand was. Dancing all around it were Norman's best friends. Norman snickered a little when he saw Danny try to impress Calista with his dance moves, then get a cactus up his butt when she didn't approve. Danny picked cactus needles out of his rear and turned around to see Norman, then grimaced.

"Oh, it's you." he muttered.

He gestured around and said,

"I heard that you get stiff around fun, Noobman."

Norman started to become angry, but he couldn't really deny the fact. He hated dancing, especially in front of other people, ESPECIALLY in front of his best friends. Lizzy started dancing to the beat of "Skelly Heart" to leave Norman standing awkwardly amongst his dancing friends. Finally Lizzy pushed him and said,

"C'mon, just dance for once? Please?"

Norman shook his head rapidly.

"C'mon, little dude! Do it for the DJ!"

Norman looked up into the DJ stands and saw Joe standing behind them with a stereo and speaker mod, blasting "Skelly Heart".

"You're a DJ?" said Norman, trying to get his voice over the music.

Joe grinned and said,

"Oh yeah! Got any song requests?"

Norman shook his head and said,

"No, that's alright."

Lizzy jumped forward and screamed,

"His favorite song is "Party Block Anthem"!"

Norman slapped his hand over her mouth, but Joe had already heard, so he said,

"Alrighty then! "Party Block Anthem" it is!"

The song "Skelly Heart" ended about ten seconds later, and then on came "Party Block Anthem".

_"Party block is in the house tonight_

_Everybody head to the mine_

_We gonna mine those ores all the night_

_Everybody head to the mine_

_Party block is in the house tonight_

_Everybody head to the mine_

_We gonna mine those ores all the night_

_Everybody head to the mine"_

Norman was resisting the urge to sing along. He felt embarrassed, his pride too much for him to overcome.

_"We just saw a Creepah!"_

_"Slay that!"_

_"In the mine party block look up at that ore_

_Man it cool we lift our picks to mine it all_

_Our picks move away when it pops in view_

_Got the block it's ours for keeps_

_Go deeper, deeper, down through this cave_

_Till we find the ore to die for_

_Mine it hope that lava's gone"_

"C'mon, Norman!" shouted Bailey, who bumped into him to get him moving.

Lizzy did the same thing and Norman walked away to avoid them. It took all his self control to stay completely neutral. People kept bumping into him, he felt claustrophobic. He needed to get out of there before he embarrassed himself in front of the whole crowd. Suddenly, Norman stepped on a sudden pressure plate behind him and he felt his stomach drop into his shoes as a small cloud block began to rise up into the air.

_"Party block is in the house tonight_

_Everybody head to the mine_

_We gonna mine those ores all the night_

_Everybody head to the mine_

_Party block is in the house tonight_

_Everybody head to the mine_

_We gonna mine those ores all the night_

_Everybody head to the mine"_

Norman stopped in midair on the cloud and gulped when he saw that he could see around the entire room over everyone's heads. Before he could figure out how to get down, a blinding flash of light appeared before him, and a spotlight was shining in front of him, coming from the DJ stands. Everyone gasped and looked up at Norman. He wasn't sure what to do with everyone staring at him until he heard these lyrics...

_"Creeper's wanna grief ya!"_

Norman's favorite part of the entire song was coming up, and he sighed and knew that there was only one thing left to do. Norman whipped out a pair of dark shades and ripped off his clothes, revealing a gangster outfit with lots of bling. He pulled out a microphone and shouted,

_"Now dead Creepers are muffling!"_

Everyone in the vast room cheered and roared as Norman started doing some break-dancing. He had secretly been preparing for this moment, and had practiced long before their battle just in case they won and had a party, because he knew that Lizzy would request his song for him, and so he was ready to take the opportunity and show everyone that he was NOT a stiff guy! Norman stopped and guided his finger along the entire crowd.

_"Muffling, muffling!"_

The cheers raised the roof, and Norman almost had trouble focusing as he continued with his rapping.

_"Kill those green creeps fast, while I last, save these ores, these ores galore_

_Protect the diamonds, emeralds, iron and gold, as I was told"_

_One more freaking green_

_Ugly blowin' up machine_

_I fill my cup_

_With Creeper dust_

_I love to see_

_My enemies_

_Crumble before_

_Me and my ores!_

_Run home after the fight with all your might, yeah_

_Run home after the fight with all your might, yeah_

_Run home after the fight with all your might, yeah_

_Save these precious ores and dust_

_Save these precious ores and dust_

_Ores, dust_

_Ores, dust_

_Ores, dust_

_Ores, dust_

_Ores, dust_

_Ores, dust_

_Ores, dust_

_Ores, dust_

_Ores, dust_

_Save these precious ores and dust_

_Precious ores and dust_

_Bring your pick up!_

_Bring your pick up!_

_Bring your pick up!_

_Bring your pick up!_

_Party block is in the house tonight_

_Everybody head to the mine_

_We gonna mine those ores all the night_

_Everybody head to the-the-the mine"_

_Bring your pick up! Yeeeaaahhh!_

_Bring your pick up! Yeeeaaahhh!_

_Bring your pick up! Yeeeaaahhh!"_

_Slay that!_

_Now dead Creepers are muffling!"_

_Bring your... Bring your..._

_Bring your... Bring your..._

_Bring your... Bring your..._

_Bring your... Bring your..._

_Bring your pick up!_

_Bring your pick up!_

_Bring your pick up!"_

The song ended moments later, and Norman stayed with his head down as the crowd around him cheered. He felt too happy to be standing still, so he raised his head up and shook his fists in the air.

"WOOHOO! YEAH!" he cheered, pumping himself up.

The song changed to "I can Swing my Sword"—by Tobuscus (real name: Toby Turner)—and the cloud lowered again to the ground. Norman hopped back onto solid ground and was instantly swarmed by his friends. The spotlight was still following him. Lizzy got to him first.

"Oh my Poptart! Dude, when did you plan THAT?!" she screamed excitedly, a grin spreading across her face.

"Earlier. While everyone was cleaning up I snuck into that abandoned room we were in before and practiced for my big performance. I wanted to prove to everyone that I wasn't stiff, especially to you." he said, and his face suddenly got red.

"I knew you'd loosen up!" Lizzy declared excitedly.

Without warning, Lizzy leapt forward and kissed Norman, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. They stood there for a moment, but then Norman opened his eyes and looked past Lizzy to see a gigantic projection of them kissing floating high in the air for everyone to see. He pulled and said,

"Dang it, everyone just saw us kiss."

"Ah, who cares?!" replied Lizzy, showing off her perfect white teeth when she smiled.

The next song came on. It was "Revenge", another one of Norman's favorites. At this time, Joe hopped down from his DJ stand and started dancing.

"Dude! This is my favorite!" he shouted, flailing his arms offbeat in a motion that looked like attempted—and failed—dancing. The dance party lasted for a long time, all through the night, in fact.

Norman heard several of his other favorites, like "It's Herobrine", "Don't Mine At Night", and "In Search of Diamonds". He had the best time of his life, dancing with his best friends. But then, at 12:00 midnight the last song of the night began to play: "Fallen Kingdom". Norman loved this one almost as much as "Party Block Anthem" because of how dramatic it was. But it made him sad, because as the party came to an end, so did the king's life. Norman found the pressure plate again and stepped on it, and he rose up into the air with a spotlight on him. He held the microphone to his mouth and spoke to the vast crowd that was his army.

"Alright, everyone! Thank you all for coming! I hope you had an awesome time, but now that the war is done... Well, I guess it's time to go home..."

Everyone groaned. No one really wanted to go home, and if they could have it their way they would've partied for hours and hours longer until people started fainting form exhaustion. But, nevertheless, everyone began to stream out of the gigantic gates, all conversing excitedly. Norman floated back down to the ground on his cloud and gave the microphone back to Joe. He and his other seven best friends began to walk out towards the exit, but then Joe stopped them and said,

"Dudes! And dudettes! We can't just walk out without our memories!" he whipped out Snap—if you remember, the diamond-encased camera that was his weapon. "Let's get a group picture!"

Everyone gathered around, and Norman was pushed to the front with Lizzy. Then Jeff pressed a button and quickly ran over to the side and put his arm around Quinn, saying,

"Alright, everyone! Three, two, one, CHEESE!"

The lens snapped shut and the flash went off, and Joe rushed around and picked out eight copies, then handed them out. Norman looked at his and smiled at himself, and knew that from then on he would always remember this moment.

But he knew that it was time for everyone to go home. Norman expected everyone to leave through the gates, but they followed him and Lizzy as they found Notch, Herobrine and Queen Enderdragon in the center of the gigantic room near the DJ stand. Norman looked up into Notch's eyes and said,

"Well, I guess this is it. Lizzy and I need to get back home now that the Glitch is gone. You'll take care of both the past and present Glitches, right?"

Notch nodded and said,

"We will be hurling them down into The Void, and it will take billions upon billions of millennium for the viruses to escape, and by then they will be too small to function. The important thing is getting you and your friend home. I have transported all of the living humans that survived this war and sent them back to Earth, restored to their original human forms, and their memories are erased. Norman and Lizzy, when you get home, you will resume your life in the exact moment that you were sucked into the Minecraft Dimension, and you will make sure that your parents know nothing about our dimension or any of your journey. Do you understand?"

Norman and Lizzy nodded. Then Notch added,

"And you must leave all of your Minecraft Dimension items here, you won't go through with those things on you."

Both Norman and Lizzy dropped their Blockpacks and weapons and food to the ground. They both turned around to face the rest of their best friends. They all looked sad, and they waved.

"By Norman! By Lizzy! I hope you have a safe trip home!"

"We'll miss you!"

"I'll send you a postcard!"

Norman gave a sad smile and said,

"I'm gonna miss you guys, too..."

He and Lizzy linked hands and prepared to be teleported by Notch, Herobrine and Queen Enderdragon. With his free hand Norman waved to his friends and kept his tears back as he choked,

"Bye..."

The next moment, the world around them disappeared and they were transported away, falling into the vast darkness they had experienced that time long ago...

**I'm tearing up myself! ;.; I don't want them to go! Well, Norman and Lizzy's friends will always be in their hearts... Anyway, now that Norman and Lizzy are being transported back home, what will they do when they get there? Stay tuned, and find out tomorrow in the ****_very last chapter_**** of THE GLITCH!**

***Super Pasty flies back down to the ground next to the bakery***

***Nyan Cat and the Poptartmobile land next to him, and everyone files out of the Poptartmobile***

***Super Pasty transforms back into Pastrinator64, and he looks around at his friends***

**"Well, thanks a lot for coming after me, I needed a distraction so I could transform into Super Pasty."**

***LuvrO'Pokemon comes forward and they shake hands***

**"Isn't that what friends are for?" she says.**


	54. Chapter 54: Chapter One All Over Again

**Hello, this is Pastrinator64 with the VERY FINAL CHAPTER for THE GLITCH. Last time on THE GLITCH we watched as Norman and all his friends went to a dance party that could not be topped. In a surprising act of boldness, Norman performed an epic rap during the song "Party Block Anthem" to prove that his stiffness was over. But, in the end, it was obvious that they needed to go back to their true home, back to their families on Earth. So, now we watch as the story ends with Norman and Lizzy having the fun that had been attempted and failed in the very beginning.**

**Now, let the story commence, and please enjoy the final chapter for THE GLITCH!**

_Chapter 54: Chapter One All Over Again_

A few seconds went by in the darkness, but finally they came out through the other end of the computer wormhole and Norman and Lizzy were sitting in Norman's room in front of his broken computer screen. It no longer had the creepy website on it. Norman looked around at his messed up bedroom and started to smile.

"I back home..." he muttered.

Norman stood up and ran to his broken window and looked at the sky, which had returned to its beautiful blue again.

"I'm back home!"

Norman raised his hands and praised the Lord for his return.

"I'M BACK HOME!"

Then he heard his mother's voice from the other side of the room.

"Honey, what is going on in here?!"

Norman scrambled over to Lizzy and whispered,

"Quick! I'll take all that stuff off the door and you set up a game of chess or something to fool my mom!"

"Norman, who are you talking to?"

Norman quickly began to move the furniture that was propped up against the door.

"Norman! You sound like your moving furniture!"

"Yeah! Ha! I know..." said Norman, trying to move as quickly as possible.

Norman finally pushed his bed over to where it needed to be, quickly swept up all the scattered glass and threw himself onto the floor across from Lizzy where she had set up a full game of chess. Norman's mother opened the door and peeked inside, then looked at Lizzy and said,

"Lizzy, what are..."

Then she saw the broken window and said,

"Did you break through that window?!"

Norman shook his head and said,

"No, when I was letting Lizzy in it slammed shut and the glass broke, but don't worry, we swept up all the glass around on the floor. Ow!"

Norman looked at his hand suddenly and saw a gash, the gash that he had gotten from the glass when they first ended up at his computer. His mother grabbed his wrist and said,

"Oh my gosh you might be infected! Let me come clean this up!" as she was pulling Norman out through the door she gestured to Lizzy and added, "And you, young lady, are going to go back home, and this time through our FRONT DOOR."

"Yes, Mrs. Inkwell." replied Lizzy, who jumped up off the floor and followed them.

After Norman's hand was washed and bandaged he was able to escape the house and run over to cocoa beach to meet Lizzy again. The only difference was that he was able to run there without completely collapsing—his whole adventure had definitely built up his body over the time. Norman found Lizzy standing knee-deep in the water about three feet out offshore. Norman paused at the edge of the water, so Lizzy said,

"C'mon in! You're not going to back out this time, are you?"

Then she splashed Norman with water and Norman held up his clothes. But then he started to smile a little.

"Oh, you shouldn't have done that!" he said playfully.

Norman jumped into the water and swam after Lizzy. Finally he caught up with her and grabbed her around the waist, and she squealed.

"HEY! NO FAIR!"

They wrestled in the water, and eventually they made it back onto the shore. Norman was taller than she was, and he pushed her onto the sand. They started wrestling and laughing in the sand, getting dirty but not caring one bit. But then, unexpectedly they dropped down through a hidden hole and landed with a grunt. Norman rolled off of Lizzy and looked around inside the hole. It was Lizzy's secret hideout.

Lizzy crawled over to the cooler and said,

"So, now that we're here, you want to get on with the fun we were supposed to have before?"

Norman looked down and pulled out the Poptart good luck necklace that Lizzy had given to him in the hideout so long ago, and then looked back up. This time Norman agreed. They spent the rest of the morning and all of the afternoon on the beach, talking, walking, laughing, wrestling, etc. By the end of the day Norman and Lizzy were both sitting in the sand looking out at the horizon. There was a silence for a while as they both admired the water's beauty, but after a while Lizzy sighed.

"I miss all our friends..." she murmured.

Silent tears ran down her cheeks and Norman wiped them off with his finger, then pushed back the hair from her eyes.

"I miss them too..." he muttered.

Then, he had an idea and pulled out the group photo. He and Lizzy looked at it.

"Well, we'll always have this picture along with our memories, right? They won't be totally gone."

Lizzy smiled and said,

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

Norman smiled himself and looked down at the picture. His own smiling face and many others stared back up at him. He knew he would never be alone again...

* * *

As the frozen image of the group photograph began to fade into darkness, ending music began to play, and the title THE GLITCH was blasted onto the screen. As the credits began to roll, Notch listened to his friends and coworkers cheer. He turned and looked to his left at Steve, Mel, and the rest of the Mojang crew.

"So, what do you think?" he asked.

Junkboy piped up from the far left.

"That was a brilliant film! I think it's ready for theatres!"

Notch smiled to himself and then heard someone to his right speak.

"Yes, this movie turned out so well I could cry!"

Notch turned and looked at Mark Theodor, the young actor who starred as Norman in the movie.

"It's much more exciting for me—you know why." he added.

"Hey, don't forget about me!"

Lily Mantiam popped her head up from beside Mark. She was the young actor for Lizzy.

"I played a big part in the movie, too!"

Notch nodded and said,

"Yes, no one has forgotten about you. After watching my finished product I must say that you are one of the most lovable characters by far. Either that or Jim—Danny, if you want to go by his stage name."

Jim Yuccum stood up from behind Notch and said,

"It's so much fun being the jerk and comic relief, you don't know how much fun I had with this."

Notch stood up and turned around to face the rest of the cast and crew for the movie THE GLITCH and declared,

"So, who thinks this film is ready for theatres?"

Everyone cheered and raised their hands in high excitement.

"Before I file the paperwork to send it out, I would like to thank the entire cast and crew members, all the way from the main actors to the set crew! All of you did a wonderful job in helping me produce this movie! Thank you!"

Everyone cheered again, and as people started to leave to go back to the studios, Notch sat down and watched the credits roll, ultimately satisfied with his work. THE GLITCH was finally complete...

_THE END_

**HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAA! I'VE BEEN WAITING SO LONG FOR THIS MOMENT! NONE OF IT HAPPENED! IT'S ALL A MOVIE! I'M EVIIIIIIIIILLLLLLL! XXXXXXXXXXDDDDDDDDDD MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Well, who knows, it might become a blockbuster! Well, audience, usually I have some questions to ask you, but for this chapter I only have one. What will happen next? OH YEAH! I'm writing a sequel! I will be able to start posting by the 24th of June, so I just need a month to get in some writing! So, as always, stay tuned, and don't forget to check back on the 24th with my sequel to THE GLITCH called: VOiD.**

***Pastrinator64 looks around at all his friends and smiles, and they smile back***

**"Well, what are we going to do now?" asks gin ketsueki.**

***Pastrinator64 shrugs and says,***

**"Well, I don't know. There's an evil being named Olivicious terrorizing the planet of Poptarticus in the Gooey Galaxy a couple trillion miles form our solar system, so I have to go save the planet. I was born there, and I'm not about to let Olivicious destroy my home planet!"**

***Pastrinator64 transforms into Super Pasty again and flies off into the distance, waving goodbye to all his friends***

**Well, thank you all for reading. Goodnight, and goodbye... For now...**


	55. BONUS CHAPTER: Pastrinator64's Adventure

**Hey, everyone! This is Pastrinator64 with a bonus chapter for THE GLITCH. Here we watch what happens after Pastrinator64 leaves his friends at the bakery as Super Pasty. Now he has to protect his home planet of Poptarticus, if you remember, from a disgusting olive monster named Olivicious. So, what happens next?**

**So please, enjoy this bonus chapter and read from Pastrinator64's POV.**

_BONUS CHAPTER: Pastrinator64's Adventure_

As pastrinator64 fell down into the darkness of the black hole, he thought to himself,

_"Well, I guess this is it. Here I am, falling to my death, ready to be sucked into a black hole of disgusting olive oil. Dang, and everything started out so well this morning..."_

* * *

Earlier that day...

* * *

Pastrinator64 looked back at his friends, who were still standing by the bakery, all waving goodbye. He sighed, but then looked on out to the sky. He had just been able to spend enough time with his friends at the bakery, but now it was his duty to return to his home planet of Poptarticus in the Gooey Galaxy, where the evil being named Olivicious was threatening to wipe it off the face of the universe with its disgusting vegetable powers.

Thankfully, with the help of his trainer Master Mapley, Pastrinator64 was finally able to receive the ancient and all-powerful Powertart, enabling him to turn into Super Pastry by harnessing its energy. Now that he had raised his power level up to 500,000 he knew that he could become a match against Olivicious, who was the same power level.

Pastrinator64 flew through the sky, his marshmallow cape billowing behind him. Finally, he reached open space, and he formed a casing of transparent Poptart tinfoil packaging to keep himself from suffocating. He looked around at the blackness of the universe, and then closed his eyes.

He focused his mind, calming himself, searching for his planet, which was quite far from Earth. After a few minutes, he opened his eyes. He could sense his planet, but its energy was slowly fading.

_"Olivicious! He's killing the people of Poptarticus! I must stop him!"_ he thought.

Pastrinator64 closed his eyes again and put two fingers to the bridge of his nose. In a few moments, he disappeared, traveling at light-speed through space, and a second later he appeared again, standing in their global space station. He ran quickly over to the translucent blueberry-filling-crafted window, and he looked through it at Poptarticus below. Explosions of black were occurring all over the face of the frosted planet, smoke was billowing up, polluting the sweet-smelling atmosphere with disgusting olive smell.

"He must be turning my beautiful planet into one giant disgusting vegetable! How dare he!" he thought.

Pastrinator64 looked around at the space station, which was completely deserted.

"Well," he muttered, backing up to face the window. "It's no use staying here, I've got to go and defeat Olivicious!"

Pastrinator64 ran and jumped at the window, but curled into a ball in midair, transforming his entire body into blueberry filling, letting him squeeze right through the window. He uncurled and returned to his normal Super Pasty form. He put his arms back and rocketed forward on a trail of sugary Nyan-Cat-like rainbows. He stopped once he was through the sugar-mist atmosphere of Poptarticus.

His people were scattering, screaming, absolutely terrified. Dead bodies lay everywhere, all different colors of fillings oozing out from their corpses. pastrinator64 clenched his fists in rage, and used his sugar-detecting X-ray vision to find Olivicious. He looked around, seeing all different high levels of sugar content, and then in the distance he detected a sudden drop of sugar content, seeing a black splotch in his vision.

Pastrinator64 rocketed towards the black splotch and his vision returned to normal. In less than a minute, he stopped in midair and looked out in the distance to see the evil Olivicious hovering over the capitol city of Frosticera.

Olivicious was a very huge man, his skin was pitch black like an olive, and his muscles bulged, covered in a slick layer of olive oil. His hair was long and composed of black olive vines. His head was a large, ugly, black olive that oozed poisonous olive juices through the eyes and mouth. Pastrinator64 growled and zoomed forward at Olivicious, who spotted him and backed up. Pastrinator64 stopped in front of the evil olive monster, and they grimaced at each other for a few seconds.

"Ah, Super Pasty! I've been waiting for you! I heard that Master Mapley has been training you to maintain this form of yours." declared Olivicious.

"Yes, I have. I have come to stop you from destroying my home planet of Poptarticus." retorted Pastrinator64.

Olivicious laughed, coughing out a splatter of olive juice.

"STOP ME?! HAHAHAHAHAAAA! You dare try and overcome my vegetable powers with those little candy toys of yours?! You are a thickheaded fool!"

Pastrinator64 grimaced harder and clenched his fists.

"I do not believe that I am the thickheaded fool, here, you slippery ball of disgust. You will not continue with your terrorization over my planet, I am the rightful protector, and I WILL destroy you, even if it costs me my life..." muttered pastrinator64, feeling his anger spike.

Olivicious grinned evilly and said,

"How touching. I am sure that your people here on Poptarticus will feel grateful for your sacrifices. Or at least, UNTIL I KILL YOU!"

Olivicious reached back and grasped two of the black olive vines, then ripped them from his head. He cracked them in the air, turning them into lethally poisonous whips. Pastrinator64 reached into a sheath strapped to his back and pulled out his own weapon. This was a huge four foot-long sword, twisted together and crafted from the flaming metal wires of a toaster, and it burned with deadly heat, sparking and glowing with singing fire. Just as the two lunged for each other, the dramatic song "Palladio" by Escala began to play.

Pastrinator64 dodged a crack from his olive whips, and then sliced forward with his superheated wire sword, creating a burning gash across Olivicious's arm. Olivicious cracked his whip again, just nicking Pastrniator64's ear. Pastrinator64 flew up and brought his fiery sword upon his black olive head, but missed and was whipped in the back painfully as he was steadying himself. Olivicious screeched and lunged forward, his vine hair rising up. Pastrinator64 turned around and dodged a bunch of snaps from his tendrils hairs, but then one grabbed his leg, and he was hurtled downward into a nearby syrup river.

He flew up out of the syrup river and spat out a mouthful of it. Syrup was covering him from head to toe, and he was a lot slower. Olivicious zoomed downward and cracked his whip, wrapping it around Pastrinator64's ankle. He lifted up his whip, then brought it down, smashing Pastrinator64 on the ground, and then flung him in the other direction. Pastrinator64 smashed into a building made of fudge, hurtling right through the side and into another building. Through the hole he had created in the building, Pastrinator64 saw Olivicious zooming towards him with his olive whips outstretched.

Pastrinator64 broke free from the building behind him and reached back into his weapon bag, pulling out a clump of cherry bombs. Just as Olivicious was through the fudge building he bit off the stem of a cherry bomb and threw it into Olivicious's screeching mouth. He flew down at the ground below as Olivicious's stomach exploded, and he curled up inside his deflective marshmallow cape to avoid being hit by the splatter of poisonous olive oil.

Pastrinator64 uncurled from his ball and saw Olivicious breaking through the side of the building with his entire belly blasted open and oozing olive oil. Pastrinator64 flew away, but was whipped in the back by an olive vine. He hurtled down and smashed into the cherry-frosted pavement of the capitol. Up in the air, Olivicious raised his hands, his whips levitating up into the air. In between then, a dark ring of black energy formed, and in a few seconds it grew to the size of a beach ball in between the two vines.

Olivicious whipped his vines downward, sending the ring right towards Pastinator64, who dodged it, and then flew up and away. As he was flying, he looked back to see that the black ring of energy was zooming after him. Pastrinator64 continued to fly, and as he was doing so he cupped his hands together, forming a super-concentrated ball of lethal sugar, which he hurled behind him.

The sugar ball collided with the disk, making it explode in a mix of olive oil and white sugar. Pastrinator64 looked up, and immediately was met in the face with a deadly olive whip, which slashed across his face. As he was hurtling downwards he could feel hot strawberry filling oozing out from his wound, blinding him.

Pastrinator64 flew away, wiping away the filling so he could see. He just barely missed a crack from Olivicious's whip. Just as the creature was pulling back to whip him again, he hurtled forward and stabbed him with his fiery sword of wires.

Olivicious was launched into the distance, smashing through another fudge building. Pastrinator64 flew after him, and before Olivicious could get his back out of the building's side Pastrinator64 stabbed his sword all the way through Olivicious's already blasted-open stomach, going all the way into the wall. Olivicious screeched in anger and pain, and then kicked Pastrinator64 in the face, making him flip backwards. Before Pastrinator64 could fly back and attack, Olivicious yanked the sword out from his olive-oil-gushing stomach and ducked down to dodge.

Pastrinator64's fist lodged into the fudge, which he quickly broke free from, and then turned around to see Olivicious flying backwards, holding his sword. He rocketed at Olivicious, and Olivicious cracked two of his whips, both wrapping around his neck. The monster swung to the side, hurling Pastrinator64 into another building.

Pastrinator64 growled and looked up, seeing Olivicious rocketing towards him with his rightful sword. Just as Olivicious was near him, he flew to the side, and then started whirling in supersonic speed around Olivicious, twisting him together with the sugary rainbows than flowed from his cape. Once he was all tied up, Pastrinator64 rocketed upward, dragging Olivicious with him. Soon he was high up into the atmosphere of Poptarticus.

Pastrinator64 flew underneath the entangled Olivicious and grabbed his fiery sword of wires. Then, he flew up above, retracted the monster's binds and stabbed the sword into his chest. The two of them hurled down at Frosticera, and in a matter of seconds, they collided with the ground, creating a huge crater.

Pastrinator64 pushed hard down on his sword, sending it deeper into Olivicious's chest and right into the ground below. Olivicious let out a terrible screech, coughing up poisonous black olive oil, practically drowning in his own fluids.

"I warned you before, you disgusting vegetable, that I would destroy you, and now you will die a slow and painful death for what you have done..." muttered Pastrinator64.

Olivicious stared at him with gaping black eyes, and then grimaced.

"I... Am... Not... Finished... With... You..."

Suddenly, the olive vine tendrils that were Olivicious's hair lashed out and grabbed Pastrinator64, and then our sugary hero was thrown into the air with his magic marshmallow cape ripped off. He could no longer fly, and from below, Olivicious took his last breath and exploded, turning into a black hole of disgusting olive oil. As pastrinator64 fell down into the darkness of the black hole, he thought to himself,

_"Well, I guess this is it. Here I am, falling to my death, ready to be sucked into a black hole of disgusting olive oil. Dang, and everything started out so well this morning... Woah! I'm having déjà vu."_

But then, when all hope seemed lost, Pastrinator64 remembered that he still had someone to save him from his vegetable-death. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a Heal Ball.

"Nyan Cat, I choose you!" he shouted.

pastrinator64 threw the pinkish Pokeball while falling and it exploded in a blast of light, and Nyan Cat came out. Nyan Cat flew down and started meowing, and Pastrinator64 grabbed its tail. Together they flew away from the olive oil black hole safely. While he was flying, he looked back at his home planet in despair, watching it crumble to... Crumbs.

But then he looked on with Nyan Cat for another planet. He thanked the Poptart god Frosticus that his wife Sprinkles had gone on vacation that week to the nearby planet of Resort-R-Us, because otherwise she would have been killed in the olive oil black hole. Now that their planet was gone, it was up to him and his wife to bring back the Poptartian race.

_THE END_

**Well, that was fun to watch. Who knew pastrinator64 was such a good fighter? And also, hurrah for victory over vegetables and all that is slimy and green! Well, I hope you enjoyed this bonus chapter. For now, goodnight, and goodbye, and I'll see you on June 24th with the first chapter of my sequel to THE GLITCH: VOiD.**

**~Pastrinator64**


	56. I Have An Important Announcement

**Hello everyone! This is Pastrinator64 with an important announcement!**

**I am sorry for this, but there has been a change in plans. I will be going on a trip in Boulder Junction with my family and relax at our cabin up north, so I will be gone from home on the 24th. That means that I will be moving VOiD's posting date to the July 1st, otherwise I'd totally miss the due date.**

**Also, after reading some other Minecraft fanfics I have decided to do some things that will allow me to interact more with my fans and spice things up more. The Glitch had only three things besides the writing itself: 1. The opening notes for each chapter, 2. The ending notes for each chapter, and 3. The end-of-chapter mini adventure with Pastrinator64 and all his friends. So, this time I will be adding some newer features to my story...**

**1. In the beginning of each chapter I will also reply to any reviews given.**

**2. At the end of each chapter I will ask you to post your questions to the characters, all of which will be answered in the following chapter.**

**3. I will be accepting OCs every once in a while, so pay attention to the end of each chapter, I may ask for some OCs. When that happens I am more than happy to take in original character requests!**

**Also, if you want to be part of Pastrinator64's adventure and join him when he embarks on the next quest then just send in a request in review form explaining why you think you deserve to be part of the adventure. And I am deeply sorry, but I will not be revealing anything more on VOiD except the content in its description-which, if you are curious to see, is on my profile page. So stay tuned, and I'll see you on July 1st with VOiD! ;D**

**~Pastrinator64 [~]**


	57. I Have Made Yet Another Change

**Hello, this is Pastrinator64 with yet another important announcement!**

**I am so sorry, I have been changing posting dates left and right, but after hearing what I have to say I am sure that it will make EVERYONE happier. I have yet again changed the posting date for VOiD to this coming Thursday! I already have several chapters finished and ready for public viewing and I am currently working on the cover-art, but I have some things that I cannot put into the cover-art until later chapters. So, lucky for you, I'm posting the story very, very soon! As I explained before, I will be posting VOiD this coming Thursday, which in this case is tomorrow, so grab your popcorn, your soda and your pickled garlic, because the very first chapter to VOiD will be up tomorrow morning! (This is all because I can't wait for anything exciting to happen, I must have it done as soon as possible.) I'll see you tomorrow! ;D**

**~Pastrinator64 [~]**


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